I'm Ginny Weasley, and this is my story
by EnigmaticHufflepuff
Summary: All the book series from Ginny's point of view, from when Harry arrives at the Burrow for the first time to the end of the Hogwarts battle, discover what happened in Ginny's life. This story is originally written in Italian so bear with me.
1. Prologue

AN: Hey there, I am Ermory nice to meet Y'all. So this story is a story that is originally translated from Italian so I am terribly sorry if grammar or dialogue that comes from the book is wrong.

Disclaimer: I do not own either the plot or the characters, the plot is from EmPotter and the characters are from JK Rowling's mind

Link to the original story: ?action=printall&sid=1166371

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Prologue

The frogs croaked in the small green pond, the hens below amusedly cackled here and there creating havoc among the chickens, as the warm summer breeze blew pleasantly, rippling through trees and grass. A red-haired figurine was facing her window sill, absently looking out over the garden at the pond - the same pond in which her elder brothers had tried to drown her if it had not been for his mother's hoarse screams.

Ginny Weasley had just turned eleven: she was a thin, petite girl, her pretty face sprayed with freckles, below her big brown eyes and thick red hair: a flame red that went on orange, which Ginny liked to compare with the sunset.

Although she had received the letter a few days ago, the girl wanted to try herself to control her magic, and, furrowing her brows in contraction, made the petals of flowers on her windowsill open and close like a kind of submarine coral.

If only her mum had seen it!

Her mother would have certainly disintegrated her and since Ginny had received her letter she had become, if possible, even more, paranoid and hysterical. Not to mention the thrashing screams thrown into the kitchen when the girl had waved her Hogwarts letter all over the house, shrieking with happiness.

One thing that had made her crazy was the fact that her older brothers, Fred, George and Ron, had been spending hours making bets to guess which house their sister was going to end up with.

In short, it was bad on their part to reiterate that she would never be a Ravenclaw because she was too _stupid_ , and the girl nearly burst into tears and cursed for that because now she should have to learn that her brothers liked to joke, even if she was not sure that this was really a joke.

Although it was hard to make her parents proud when their six sons had already done everything before her, the little Weasley had confidence in herself and would never let them down.

"Empty beds!" the mother's voice from the courtyard echoed in the room. "You could have crashed ... I was out of anguish ... But what did you care?"

What else had her brothers done?

Although curious to immediately rush down to investigate what they had accomplished this time, she was too angry. Angry with them for the fact that they excluded her yet again, like playing Quidditch.

She dominated her impulse of curiosity, giving way to pride and arrogance dominate, but she could not. After five minutes, she had opened the door impatiently and ran downstairs.

"The sky was overcast, mum"

"Do not talk with your mouth full!"

"But they were starving him to death, mum"

"The same is for you!"

Ginny quickly entered the kitchen, even more, intrigued by the words she had just heard, but stopped short: her eyes were immediately drawn to a boy, a boy who had no red hair of the Weasley, a boy who looked incredibly like... the famous Harry Potter …

She could not believe it.

The mysterious boy turned to the girl and Ginny saw that it was him, she let out a little scream and ran away again.

She made the stairs two at a time, even three at risk of falling and breaking all her teeth, and immediately shut the door to her room hoping not to have attracted too much attention, even if it seemed impossible. The girl noticed that the floorboard outside the door is still bobbing, because she heard the noise against the wooden door.

She tried to focus on the 'Ginevra's Room' name plate to change it in her mind - she hated her entire name of baptism (not to mention the second 'Molly'), but failed.

So, Ron, Fred and George had flown to Harry Potter's house to take him here to the Burrow? Was that why my mother was so angry? Yes, and Ginny should have imagined it. She had heard her brother scoff at the fact that his best friend did not answer the letters, while a certain Hermione Granger did. The reason for the lack of answers to all those letters, Ron attributed to Harry's bad guardians. She had to expect something like that.

However, at the moment, it's needless to say that her little heart was beating at a thousand miles per hour: she had seen the most famous wizard of the world, _live!_

Not that she had not seen him before, because Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter had met once on the first of September of the previous year, at the King's Cross station before taking the run-up and emerging on the track nine and three quarters.

 _"Excuse me"_

 _A trembling voice came faintly behind Ginny's shoulders and the little girl turned around: a thin boy, with messy black hair and shining green eyes, looked at her and her family through his round glasses._

 _Ginny stared at him for a long time, childishly attracted by that boy ... but she did not have the slightest idea that it was Harry Potter. She knew nothing about him but it seemed he had already left a mark in her mind ..._

 _"Hey mum, let's see if you can guess who we just met on the train!" exclaimed Fred excitedly, getting off the train. "You know that black-haired boy who was near us at the station, do you know who he is?"_

 _"Who is it?"_

 _"Harry Potter!" the twins answered in chorus._

 _Ginny's heart gave a somersault._

 _Who would have thought that the boy she had long observed was Harry Potter?_

 _"Oh, mum, can I get on the train to see him?" the little girl asked her mother in her most desperately pleading tone, because the boy's eyes had almost stunned her. "Mum, please ..."_

 _"You've already seen him, Ginny, and that poor boy is not a zoo animal!" the mother blurted out and Ginny told herself that this was absolutely a lost case, and that it was probably not worth the trouble._

 _She thought desperately that maybe he would see her again in passing in the corridors at Hogwarts, when it was also her time to go to school, the following year …_

But she was wrong. He would see her again, yes, but at her house for a month!

She turned towards the window and leaned over to see what was going on downstairs, past the kitchen garden that could be seen outside her bedroom: the twins and Ron were teaching Harry Potter how to get rid of the garden gnomes.

She even had the idea to get on the desk for a better view, but then told herself it was a bad idea. If Mum came right in then she could even think of suicide! She would not have thought the girl was looking at Harry Potter, right? Even if she had done nothing but talk about him all summer with her brothers ...

Daydreams of the two falling in love reigned in Ginny's mind indefinitely …

Life with Harry Potter at the Burrow was a paradise for Ginny Weasley, even if the girl did not remember not to making a fool of herself in the boy's presence: she tended to drop everything when he was around and so appeared more clumsy than usual; she got used to going purple and not saying anything, which was not in her nature; otherwise, if she had to say something, it was mostly nonsense.

But the worst moment was when Ginny caught Harry looking at himself in the mirror above the fireplace, and the mirror roared, 'Put your shirt inside your pants, shaman!'. Ginny began to laugh like crazy, much to the irritation of Percy (who was trying to study who knows what) and the impatience of his brothers.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Weasley woke up early to go to Diagon Alley. But at that moment, the group, which also included a certain Hermione Granger and her parents, had split up.

Ginny and her mother, after going to Gringotts with the others, were walking alone into Diagon Alley to buy all the school supplies that she needed - except the books, which they would buy all together at _Flourish and Blotts_.

"Mum, Madam Malkin's!"

"No, we will not go there," said the mother. "Your uniform will be second-hand. Remember, we've already talked about it!"

" _But_ mom ..."

"Ginny, do not act spoiled! I'm sorry, but this is decided. Here we are!"

She dragged her daughter into a shabby-looking shop that seemed to be standing solely by magic. If the mother had not dragged her there, Ginny would never have noticed that there was a store at all: it didn't have a sign, and inside there were very few lights that made it seem all dark and claustrophobic.

"Hogwarts?" asked a smiling little witch. "I have what you need ... follow me, follow me"

Ginny obeyed and followed her into the back, where she was made to try the ugliest tunics she had ever seen. Even those of Ron (which were also second-hand) were not so ruined! In the end, she had to settle for a grey and little frayed tunic, as well as a pointed hat (as the list said) a pair of gloves similar to those in dragon leather, and a winter coat.

Leaving the shop, Mrs. Weasley noticed her daughter's afflicted face.

"Well, when you grow up I'll buy you a new, shiny black tunic," she said encouragingly, and Ginny smiled as she consulted her list.

"Um ... uniform, textbooks ... accessories yes, then: brass scales"

"We already have it at home"

"Telescope"

"You will use Bill's"

"Set of glass or crystal tubes"

"Charlie had so many ... and we do not even miss the main ingredients for the potions!"

"A cauldron?"

"We have to buy this, the store must be right ... here, around the corner"

They entered a shop crowded by students, which was full of scales, telescopes of mixed sizes (Ginny was immediately fascinated by one that was very large) as well as cauldrons of all kinds: from solid gold to pewter.

Despite the crowd that were there, they got out quickly. Ginny, in the joy of having finally bought something new, bumped into a tall, thin girl with thick, brown hair and big hazel eyes, making the girl's cauldron shatter by her feet.

There was a terrible noise and everyone turned to them: some boys, who also seemed to be of the age of Hogwarts if not of Ginny's age, giggled loudly. Ginny helped the unfortunate girl pick up her cauldron, ignoring the puffs and laughter of the others. Mrs. Weasley shouted reproach at her daughter as the other girl's mother tried telling her that it could happen to anyone.

"Sorry ..." Ginny muttered embarrassedly, red to the root of her flaming hair. "Did you get hurt?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" the girl replied gently.

" _Let's go, Ginny!_ " Mrs. Weasley hissed.

"Demelza, let's go too: this place is too crowded" echoed the girl's mother, much softer than Mrs. Weasley, and the two girls looked at each other.

"Then we'll meet at Hogwarts," said the girl named Demelza, with a gentle smile.

"Yes ... see you!" Ginny greeted her and hurried out of the shop hoping that the crowd will already forget everything.

They did not talk about what had happened in the store, and Ginny only tried to imagine what was going on in the mother's head: having children making more noise than a Centauri herd was exasperating.

They walked for more than ten minutes without saying a word, only throwing occasional glances at each other.

They passed the _Eeylops Owl Emporium_ , which sold all kinds of animals, though owls dominated. Ginny's eyes were immediately caught by a white and fluffy cat, but did not dare to breathe: she know that her mother would never buy it. They also went by the pharmacy and then back to the _Leaky Cauldron_ , then Ginny, stopped short and rushed to the window of _Quality Quidditch supplies._

"Oh, Quidditch!" blurted her mother with disapproval.

"Look mum, look! The new Nimbus Two thousand One! Mum, look!"

The handle of the racing broom gleamed in the sunlight, and it was the last one still unsold. Ginny, knowing as much as she did about Quidditch and brooms, saw from a glance that it was far ahead of the old Two thousand model.

"Just like your brothers ... come on, let's not waste time with these broomsticks!" Mrs. Weasley said impatiently, but Ginny did not seem wanting to move from the window. "Come on, you can't even ride a broom like that!"

 _How many things you do not know about me_ , thought the girl irritably. Her mother didn't know that it was since she was six that she snatched, whenever she could, her brothers' brooms to train for Quidditch: she wanted to be prepared for when, one day, she would present herself to audition for her House at Hogwarts.

Her mother now got mad and Ginny told herself maybe it was time to move.

They continued to the end of the street, where a cramped and dirty shop stood. A sign, with faded golden, said _Ollivanders,_ wands of superior quality from 382 BC.

The two entered and a little bell announced their entry.

The shop was just like itself on the outside and an old man with big light eyes peeked out of the gloom.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander!" Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully.

"Good morning," he replied softly. "So what do we have today? A Weasley, is it not ?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded vigorously.

"What's your name, miss?"

Ginny stared at him puzzled, then said her name specifying to call her with the diminutive.

"Oh, Ginny ... short for Ginevra ..." Mr. Ollivander pulled out a long measure tape. "So, what's the arm with which you use your wand, Miss Weasley?"

"The right one, sir," she replied.

The wand maker set about taking measurements from the shoulder to Ginny's fingertips, then from the wrist to the elbow, from the shoulder to the dusty floor, from the knee to the armpit and finally took the head circumference while Ginny had her fist in her mouth to stifle the laughs: her mother gave her a look of pure threat.

"Here, that's enough," Ollivander announced. "Miss Weasley, try this: maple and dragon-heartstring, ten inches, very flexible."

Ginny took it, with shaking hands, and waved it.

The disaster was imminent: the shelves burst into the air and Ollivander snatched the wand from her hands.

"Try this"

The girl obeyed but caused the destruction of an oil lamp.

Ginny tried, tried, tried again and finally ...

"Eleven-and-a-half inches, willow and phoenix tail feathers." Ollivander handed her a beautiful black wand and Ginny grabbed it.

She realized that it was the right one when a sudden heat ran through her arm with a pleasant tingling and from the tip of her new wand a trail of red and blue sparks emanated like miniature fireworks. Mrs. Weasley smiled and Ollivander had a satisfied expression on his face, he then said in a croaking voice:

"It's the wand that chooses the wizard"

After paying seven galleons of gold for Ginny's wand, the two hurried through Diagon Alley to reach the others at _Flourish and Blotts_ for the textbooks: Ginny obviously would have them secondhand, like all the stuff she owned.

They met Fred and George in _Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop_ and Percy's in a crowded, junk-filled shop, and they headed off to the bookstore where they were sure they would find Mr. Weasley in the company of Mr. Granger.

"Oh, that sounds like a fascinating book," Fred mumbled, chuckling and pointing to Percy's new book: _Prefects who gained power, A study of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers_.

"Stop it," he snapped.

"Oh-ho, very ambitious, boy," George said back.

"Stop that nonsense"

" _But_ Percy!" Ginny intervened, who could not help eavesdropping on their conversation, leaving her mother's hand. "Did you not always say you wanted to be Minister of Magic once Fudge was dead?"

" _Ginny, for God's sake_!" her brother hissed, looking around in terror. "Shut up too and walk with mum!"

The girl could not understand.

They walked for more than five minutes (Fred, George and Percy argued all the way but that wasn't really new) and reached the bookshop, which was crowded with an unusually long line. The boys could not figure out what that crowd of middle-aged ladies like Mrs. Weasley was doing, but Ginny had guessed it from a big sign, hanging from the windows of the upper floor:

 **Today, from 12.30 to 2.30**

 **GILDEROY LOCKHART**

 **will sign copies of his autobiography**

 _ **Magical me.**_

Mrs. Weasley was now fixing her hair very nervously.

"What's wrong with her?" Fred said, widening his eyes, amused.

Ginny laughed and pointed to the sign.

"Oh, damn it!" Fred moaned, too disgusted to laugh, "If I knew I would have came in ..."

"Guys, here you are, good!" said her mother while Ron, Harry and their friend joined them. "In a minute we'll see ..."

The girl craned her neck: Gilderoy Lockhart emerged from the shelves and sat down gracefully at a table. The wizard had a head of blonde and wavy hair, and wore a turquoise dress bringing out his eyes. He showed a radiant smile, while winking to every witch.

Ginny blinked, thinking he was really beautiful.

The first words of the man were:

"Is it ever possible, but is that Harry Potter?"

Ginny turned to the boy but Lockhart leaned forward, took Harry by the arm, and dragged him until he found the boy with himself in the front row: Harry went as red as Weasley's hair; Lockhart shook his hand; the photographer of _the Daily Prophet_ took countless photos one after the other; and the audience burst into loud applause.

Ginny joined the applause in an excited way and Hermione Granger smiled at her, clapping her hands. Ron gave her a look of profound contempt as Fred and George laughed at Percy, who was livid, covered with dense gray smoke from the cameras.

It seemed that the vision of Harry and Lockhart was perfect.

"Smile, Harry!" the man exclaimed, exposing his very white teeth. "You and I, together, are worthy of the front page. Ladies and gentlemen what an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry entered _Flourish and Blotts_ this morning to buy my autobiography, which I am now happy to present to him", the crowd applauded again. "He had no idea that he would go away with the entire collection of my works, for free. Ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure and pride of announcing that in September I will assume the position of Defense against the Dark Arts Professor at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of Hogwarts! "

Lockhart put a stack of books in the arms of the boy. Harry came out of the crowd, staggering slightly and approaching Ginny, who clutched her cauldron (full of second-hand books that were bought by her mother) in her fingers so hard that her knuckles went white. Harry Potter threw her Lockhart's books into the container, gasping from the effort.

"You take these, I'll buy them ..." he muttered.

"I bet you liked it, did you not, Potter?" Suddenly said a shuffling voice, and Ginny turned: a thin, pale boy with a pointed chin and blond hair that was nearly white turned to Harry mockingly with a perfect grin on his face. "The famous Harry Potter can not even go into a _bookstore_ without making the front page!"

Ginny stared at the boy: how dare he? Now it was not Harry's fault that even a famous writer of works, Gilderoy Lockhart, admired him because he was famous. She noticed that she hated that blond to death and didn't even know why that affirmation gave her so much trouble, so much that ...

"Leave him alone, he did not want all this!" she snapped and the boy turned to her.

"Oh, look Potter ... _you got yourself a girlfriend!_ " he exclaimed and Ginny blushed violently.

Why had she intervened? Yes, the blond's statement had bothered her particularly without a reason and it had been very brave of little Weasley to rebuke him, since it was the first time she went by saying something logical in the presence of Harry Potter... but now why did she have to become an all-one with her red hair?

"Guys, it's crazy inside, let's go out!" said Mr. Weasley struggling through the crowd, with Fred and George on his heels.

"Well, well, well ... Arthur Weasley," said another shuffling voice, and Ginny looked up.

"Lucius" greeted her father in an icy tone.

A man identical to the blond boy was standing behind him and holding a hand on his shoulder with a sneer exactly identical to what his son had: Lucius? Then it was him Lucius Malfoy! But then... the kid with the pointed chin must had been Draco Malfoy, the bitter enemy of her brother Ron!

"Overwork at the Ministry, Arthur? All those inspections ... I hope they pay overtime," said Lucius Malfoy mockingly, and taking the second-hand _Transfiguration Practical Guide for Beginners_ from Ginny's cauldron, then continued. "Of course not, what's the point of dishonoring the _wizard_ name if they do not pay enough?"

"We have a very different idea about what dishonors the _wizard_ name, Malfoy"

"It seems clear to me ... Going around with Muggles ... I thought this family could not fall any further"

Ginny opened her eyes, mortified and horrified, then her cauldron flew in the air: her father had rushed onto the man, hurling him against a shelf while dozens of books fell on their heads.

"Take it, dad!" Fred and George shouted in unison.

"No, Arthur, no!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

Ginny, Harry, Draco, Ron, and Hermione all stared at the scene, frozen and speechless as the crowd withdrew: Hagrid was telling others to step aside as he separated the two injured men. Mr. Weasley was cut on his lip and Mr. Malfoy in one eye, still clutching Ginny's Transfiguration book.

He looked at her with malignant contempt and gave it back to her.

"Keep this little girl ... take your book ... it's all your father can give you!"

Ginny, whose eyes were full of tears, thought she had never had a worse day than that.

When they got home, Ginny immediately dived into her bed, flipping through the pages of her second-hand books with curiosity and forgetting what happened at _Flourish and Blotts_ even though she did not really want to read them all like Hermione Granger, whom Ron had often talked about how much of a nerd she was.

She was amusedly went through the images in _Thousand Herbs and Magic Mushrooms_ , then took the Transfiguration one, and something slipped out from inside, landing with a thud on the floor.

Ginny picked up a _diary_.

It had a shiny, shabby black cover with a date that was fifty years old and the girl wondered if it was worth opening. Her father had told her so many strange stories, like a little book that burned your eyes when you opened it, or there were books like _Sonnets of a Sorcerer_ that caused the unfortunate to speak in verse for a lifetime ... maybe Ginny would have made the end of the old witch who lives in Bath: forced to stay with her freckled nose glued to the pages.

But mum would never have put a diary like that in her cauldron!

Ginny opened it and noticed that on the front page was written 'T.M. Riddle '. She flipped through the pages but realized, with dismay, that there was nothing written. The pages were yellowed and was _visibly empty_.

So her mom had not bought it! Someone had bought it to the bookstore and in the joy of seeing Gilderoy Lockhart had forgotten it in her cauldron. Yes, it had to be like that.

The girl still flipped through the pages impatiently, as if expecting to see any message appear, even just 'Dear Diary' or "Eleven thirty: Hogwarts library' or maybe a name, a surname and an address- but nothing. So, she took her quill and ink and wrote something on it.

 _My name is Ginny Weasley_.

Ginny's eyes widened: her writing was gradually disappearing, as if the page had been of an absorbing material. She felt the point where her quill had made contact to see what was wrong but quickly withdrew her hand: on the page, there were forming other words she had never written and with a different writing from hers, a firm and neat writing.

 **Hi, Ginny Weasley. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you get my diary?**

Her eyes in fright and surprise, and went almost close to screaming.

How the hell did that journal answer? What was she supposed to do? Should she show it to someone before using it? What was that little diary that looked so _harmless_ , dangerous or bewitched?

She could even hear the screams of her mother inside her head; her father's reproaches; the snorts of her brother Percy who repeated to her that she had been too unwary, that she ought to grow up someday... but she could also hear the applause and the congratulations of the twins for listening to her instinct, without worrying too much about the consequences, like a real Gryffindor.

 _I found it by mistake in my cauldron in Diagon Alley_ , she replied. _When I went to buy school supplies for Hogwarts._

 **Oh, Hogwarts! First year?**

 _Yes, it's my first year but I already know a lot of things: I have six brothers older than me._

 **Are you excited?**

 _Very. I've dreamed of going to Hogwarts since my older brother went there. But I must say that I'm also a little nervous for this first year._

 **Why should you be?**

 _Well, I have to live up to my parents' expectations: Bill was a head boy; Charlie captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team; Percy is a Prefect; Fred and George are a bit 'combines school disasters but have good grades and everyone loves them; and Ron has a fantastic best friend. Do you understand? In the family, it is expected that I will live up to the others but if I succeed then, nobody will consider it a great thing. Above all, because I am the only girl. I just want to make my parents proud and I will succeed in spite of everything!_

 **Oh, but you're very smart, Ginny Weasley!** Tom Riddle commented. **We must always have confidence in ourselves, that is how we achieve our goals and goals.**

Ginny smiled happily: gullible, idiotic, paranoid ... the diary was absolutely harmless!

What was wrong with a diary on which someone had imposed a spell to make sure that it answered and that, moreover, it gave advice? It could not do any harm, in fact, it would be of great help to let off the pressure and to tell all the things she could not say to anyone but it, which certainty would _not have opened his mouth otherwise_. It had been fortunate that someone had forgotten it.

Sbe decided not to discuss it with anyone, a wise decision too, because surely Fred and George would have confiscated it: an object so curious certainly would not go unnoticed, especially in the eyes of all her brothers.

"GINNY! LUNCH IS READY!" her mother cried out suddenly and the girl winced.

 _I have to go, they're calling me for lunch. See you soon!_ she threw down a few lines and answered her mother.

"COMING!"

But before doing anything, she hid the diary beneath the bed for good: that thing was _hers_. It was the first time that she possessed something exclusively of her own and _she would give it her heart._

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So that is the end of the first chapter, nice. Do you like all the hints?

Please do a review but don't be too harsh, English is not my mother language and I still need an editor, I will try to update every week but I have my GCSEs starting in two days, so wish me luck.

Again the link to the original story in Italian is this: ?action=printall&sid=1166371

Have a nice day

~Ermory

Editor: Helena Haansilton


	2. Finally at Hogwarts

**_Hey Y'all, here I am ...again...do_** n't ** _get your hopes up I will probably not upload every day but I am uploading at the rate at which I am translating, and it just happened that I decided to procrastinate and not study for my GCSEs, totally should start btw. OK so here is the next chapter._**

 ** _Disclaimer: This story, plot or characters do not belong to me, they belong to JK Rowling and the original writer is EmPotter. I am just translating from Italian to English._**

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 **Finally at Hogwarts**

The end of the holidays came much sooner than what Ginny Weasley would have liked, though the girl couldn't wait for the first of September. On one hand, she would have been sorry to see Harry Potter only rarely in the Great Hall for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but on the other side ... life at Hogwarts Castle called!

So the first of September came and it took _God's hand_ to be able to leave.

Everyone had so much to do: Mrs Weasley was busy with food, with school accessories, running here and there in search of socks and quills scattered around the house; Ginny looked at herself in the mirror whenever she could to fix her red hair that seemed to have a life of its own; the boys ran up and down the house; Percy nearly fell from the third floor because of the twins, and Mr Weasley almost got his neck broken.

As if the day brought bad luck!

They had crossed the garden and back three times, once because of George who had forgotten the _Filibuster_ fireworks, the second because of Fred who had forgotten his beloved broom, and the third because Ginny had forgotten her diary.

She was almost ashamed of herself: she had left him to muffle under her bed!

Finally on the way… Percy had nagged and shouted through the whole trip, swearing to strangle them all for having compromised his career as Prefect, but he had nothing to complain at that moment, having already disappeared at the barrier running like crazy, followed by his father and the twins.

"I'm going with Ginny, you two come after us"

Ginny was too used to crossing the barrier at King's Cross to _really_ worry about running into it. She still remembers that she had almost done it when Fred and George dragged her through the wall while she screamed at the top of her voice, making the Muggles at the station turn towards their direction. Eventually, she found out that it was not so bad but it was too late: it had already caused a situation.

Mrs Weasley grabbed her daughter's hand and together they emerged onto _platform nine and three quarters._

The Hogwarts Express puffed: they only had two minutes. Ginny hugged her mother tightly and kissed her father several times before stepping on the scarlet train with her trunk, and looked out of the window of the train with her brothers.

"We'll miss you, honey!" her mother was saying, clutching a handkerchief in her fist. "Be good when you're at Hogwarts and write to us, alright? Don't get caught up with those fools Fred and George!"

"HEY!" they shouted in unison.

There was a whistle and after a few seconds, the train began to move slowly.

"Percy, I leave Ginny to you!"

"Everything is under control, mom, you know it!" the boy answered, pleased with himself.

"Ginny, be good and _do not_ get in trouble like those two!"

Ginny kept nodding and waving, along with Fred and George (Percy had preferred to make a quick salute and disappear towards the tail of the train), until their parents became two red dots in the distance. The twins drew back from the window, but Ginny remained for a while to enjoy the warm summer breeze caressing her rosy cheeks, as she thought about how the trip would be, what would she be doing, and especially in the company of _whom_.

"So, would you find another place?"

Came the harmonious voice of Percy, threatening the twins in a very low voice to get out of the way. He was already wearing his Hogwarts uniform, shining with Gryffindor colours of red and gold. His chest was too far out for his beloved Prefect badge to be seen, and his hair made him look like a pompous prat. And then, quite impossibly ... he showed one of his _real_ smiles.

Ginny leaned over her brother and noticed that he was in the company of a pretty girl, who was certainly Ravenclaw, judging by her bronze and blue Prefect brooch, thick and long brown curls and very clear and shining eyes.

The twins beamed, winking at the girl, while Percy narrowed his eyes in two slits.

" _Would you two find another place?_ " he repeated with more emphasis.

"Yes, sir!" exclaimed the twins, and Percy looked pleased that he had not made a fool of himself because of the twins, in the presence of his companion, friend, or companion Prefect she was.

"Can we go?" the girl asked politely.

" _Absolutely_ , Penelope"

The twins laughed hysterically.

"You two go into your compartment!" Percy growled, then gently turned to Ginny. "and you too, find a compartment and make friends with other children: if someone's bothering you I would be on patrol in the corridor and ... _Oh_ , _I'm sorry_ , something wrong? I'm a Prefect!" he added to a boy who was walking down that corridor.

"I'm just looking for my friends", he answered dryly.

Ginny shot a glance at her brothers and the girl named Penelope, then, dragging her heavy trunk she started toward the train's tail, struggling through the compartments full of cheerfully chatting students.

After a couple of minutes, when the girl decided that she could not make it anymore with her baggage, luck decided to help her: right there-there was compartment almost empty, occupied only by a pale, skinny, mouse-coloured boy who was looking out from the window with a smile on his lips.

Ginny knocked and entered.

"Er ... excuse me, can I sit there?" the girl asked shyly, glancing at the small seat. "I arrived late at the station and ... there weren't seats anymore"

"Oh sure, sit down!" the boy exclaimed joyfully, jumping up immediately.

He helped Ginny hoist her trunk on the rack, then sat down in front of her and stared at her curiously.

"I too arrived late," he declared. "So I was alone and left in here, how lucky that you arrived!"

The girl laughed.

"Anyway I'm Ginny Weasley"

"Colin Creevey, a pleasure to m ..."

The door of the compartment opened, interrupting what would have been a handshake between the two children, and Percy emerged into the compartment in an almost inquisitive manner with Penelope, who looked rather impatient and seemed to be already tired of it of that go-and-come from the hallway behind Percy Weasley.

"How's it going, little sister, all right? Do you need help?"

" _I'm fine_ ," she replied irritably.

"Oh dear, we thought you were on patrol in the corridors, not in this compartment!"

George suddenly appeared with his twin.

"Mom just told you to keep an eye on her only if something happens," said Fred, jabbing him.

"Go into your own compartment, you two!" Percy ordered immediately, but the twins, with a mischievous and very accomplice look, took him by the arms and dragged him out of the compartment, under the amused gaze of Ginny and Colin, and though Penelope was trying to be serious, she broke out laughing in the face of her patrol companion.

Who knows what the twins had in mind ... maybe they would throw him into the bathroom, set up a spell that gets Percy stuck in there and return to London ahead of time. Or they would threaten him to go and be the Prefect somewhere else ... it was all to see as soon as they arrived at Hogsmeade station.

"STOP!" Percy screamed like a little girl, while the twins dragged him. "'ET ME GO! I SAID LET ME GO! I WILL REPORT YOU AGAIN EVEN BEFORE THE SCHOOL STARTED AND BEFORE YOU CAN ..."

Penelope closed the compartment door with a thump but the two first years were still laughing.

"My brothers"

"How cool!" Colin commented when he had finished giggling. "They're a real hoot!"

"The first no, I assure you: Percy is already in his sixth year and is twins always make fun of him because he is mum's perfect boy" Ginny informed him, with slightly raised eyebrows. "Percy is a fairly ambitious guy ... I think he wants to make a career, to become famous because he is always locked in his room and only seen at meals"

"It will be fun to have three brothers like them, though"

"Six, I have six brothers," Ginny politely corrected him. "Bill is the eldest and I adore him, he's the only one who understood me ... I say _understood_ because he finished school and moved to Egypt: he works for Gringotts"

"The wizard's bank?"

"Precisely!" she confirmed. "Then there is Charlie who has also moved out but not in Egypt, he's in Romania. His job is wonderful, he studies dragons. Then there is Percy, and then the twins: they are the symbol of disasters of the family. They're in the fourth year at Hogwarts and everyone loves them. Then there's Ron, who's in his second year, and then there's me, the only girl among so many boys, "she concluded.

"Oh, _wow_!"

"It's fun to have six brothers like them because they're hilarious, but the bad thing is that they don't make me part of anything because I'm a girl", Ginny explained rather melodramatically, "and then it is very difficult to get to their standards, because they have done everything before me, but I always put it all in. Always if my parents do not forbid me to do something" she added a giggle.

She thought of her mother, who forbade her every time for Quidditch with the others, or do anything else that boys did- which she adored doing just because she grew up with them. Fortunately, she was still young, because if she continued like this she would soon be rebellious, tired of that behaviour. Molly Weasley had to thank heaven that Ginny was still a girl of eleven, carefree and unaware.

"Anyway, do you have any brothers?"

"Yes, just one: Dennis," said Colin. "I was very sorry to leave him without me but Hogwarts called, I knew I was different, because I could do things that other children could not and when I told my parents, who are Muggles, they wanted to send me to a _psychologist_ but when the letter arrived from a professor explaining my situation they changed their mind"

Ginny laughed.

"In your family, are they all wizards?"

"Yes, but I think I have an uncle who is an... _accountant?_ Yes, but we never see him"

"So you already know everything about Hogwarts!" Colin replied excitedly. "tell me, please"

"So, Hogwarts ..."

And so little Ginny set out to explain to Colin Creevey everything she knew about Hogwarts the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: the origins, the four founders, the four houses that took their name and taught their values, the subjects you had to study, and Quidditch, which Colin declared to be taking little interest in, as it was already so much that he could be doing with both feet on the ground, let alone in flight.

The boy, for his part, explained to Ginny several things about Muggles, and she was very interested in things like the Muggle camera, which she tried with pleasure, and discovered that it did not throw any black smoke, but also discovered with disappointment that the photos do not seem like they are moving. She had expected to see her and Colin swayed in and out of the camera, instead, they remained motionless, petrified on paper.

How strange!

Every minute they spent together, Ginny felt more and more affectionate to that strange and cheerful little boy with a passion for photography and hoped with all her heart that for him it was the same.

Also, the two had a blast trying sweets of all kinds they had bought from the old witch's trolley. Colin even tasted a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean so orange-yellow coloured that Ginny would not have swallowed it even for galleons of gold: it smelled of vomit and made her reach.

"Chocolate Frogs ... they're not _real_ frogs are they?" Colin asked, after swallowing a strawberry flavoured bean to adjust the taste of the previous one.

"Oh no, it's just a spell," she explained cheerfully. "in every pack there is a famous witch and wizard, I have about ... uhm ... two hundred, and I am missing Agrippa and Morgana. The twins have already finished the collection for a while and Ron has five hundred but he has never found Agrippa, I swear that if I find it I will not exchange: I've been looking for it for centuries!"

Colin chuckled, then unwrapped the Chocolate Frog and pulled out a little figure, with his mouth wide open in amazement.

"You said that! You said it was moving!" he exclaimed excitedly, watching Hengist of Woodcroft sneezing.

"Yes, I had ... then you did not believe me?"

"No, I had a hundred percent trust in you!" the boy grinned.

"Of course!" Ginny snorted, throwing a Chocolate Frog on his head.

"Do you want to declare war?"

Then, in response to her attack, Colin threw a white jelly with orange spots.

They started a war: Ginny had almost never had so much fun.

It was twilight by now and Ginny had napped for a little while, her head resting in her hands. She stared with half-closed eyelids at the dense, thick landscape running outside the window, listening to the loud rattling of the Hogwarts Express. Colin, on the other hand, seemed quite restless, as if he couldn't remain sitting for a minute longer.

In fact, when the train slowed, he was the first to shoot up, even bumping his head beneath the little rack. But he did not pay attention to it, quickly grabbing his robe and urging the girl to hurry up, catapulted out of the compartment.

 _In five minutes: Hogsmeade station._

A cool female voice echoed in the train and Ginny noticed that Percy was trying to persuade, with a threatening expression on his face, first-year boys to enter their compartment until the train had stopped completely.

"Get out of here, there's my brother"

Ginny pushed Colin into another cart, where Percy's shadow wasn't seen. However, it was full of malignant-looking bigger boys with the same grim expression: they were laughing and shoving unfortunate kids like the little Weasley and Colin.

"Be careful how you talk to me, brat, I have the purest blood!" a shrieking voice snapped out, which Ginny recognized with horror as that of Draco Malfoy. "Unlike yours which I think really needs to be disinfected"

The boys laughed; others, like Ginny, frowned.

"What does it mean to have _pure blood_?" Colin asked, astonished.

"It's like I told you before: Salazar Slytherin did not want Muggle's children and Half-Bloods to share magical knowledge," the girl explained as she tried to get out of that wagon. "So guys like you are called ... well ... _mudbloods_ ... It's horrible! Whoever laughed at that will have no doubt which house they'll end up in"

"Is it considered a disgrace?"

"Yes, for the purebloods... but only the Slytherins consider it a disgrace"

The train stopped short and there was the pandemonium: big Slytherin boys shoved the little ones to let them pass, others instead pushed them directly against the windows of the train, others like Draco Malfoy and his friends were stuck in what was a fight to get off the train. Ginny could hear the boy's voice so close to her ear that she shuddered.

"I would love to know who died!" Malfoy declared irritably. "Oh, look ... Look there ... I thought I saw a snail that overtook you all, you first years, why don't you get up from your feet?"

There were giggles as he pushed the first-year kids who fell forward.

Ginny planted her feet on the ground with a huge force: she had no intention of falling in front of a band of wildernesses and she did not want Draco Malfoy to jostle her to get out of the train before those poor students who were before him.

"Damn it, move ... _oh, look who we have here!_ " the boy exclaimed mockingly, while Ginny turned to him, frowning. "the last lentil of the W... Weasel ... Weasley family, right?"

Two very stout and troll-like boys giggled loudly at this like idiots, while a girl with hard features and a pug's face squealed in delight. Ginny realized that many Slytherins were listening, and some even seemed to be her age.

"What do you want?" she asked grumpily as she walked slowly toward the exit through the traffic.

"What could I ever want from you, Weasley?" he said. "What could I ever want from someone who runs in a school of magic with second-hand clothes?"

"You ... ugly ..." Ginny panted, red with rage, trying to defend herself, but right now the first-year kids moved and the girl lost sight of the impertinent snake.

She jumped off the train, her sight covered by burly Hogwarts students, and swore in a low voice: Malfoy seemed to have camouflaged himself with all the crowd that was there.

"First years! First years over here!"

Ginny spotted the tall figure of Hagrid, the giant Hogwarts gamekeeper who was a friend of her family, and also who had broken her father and Lucius Malfoy apart while they argued. She approached him with Colin trotting beside her unaware of the train clash with Malfoy.

Hagrid seemed to recognize her because he gave her a greeting.

"Do you know him?" asked Colin intrigued.

"Oh yes, he's a family friend!" chirped Ginny cheerful, forgetting about the incident on the train.

"First year! Little Ginny Weasley, eh? All right? Well ... Are you all here? Come on, follow me!"

The boys followed Hagrid along a steep and narrow path and Ginny almost stumbled and risked lying on the ground at the feet of the other kids: she hoped with all her heart that another beautiful fall would not happen, indeed, yet _another_ situation to make a fool of herself. Slipping and stumbling, they continued to follow the giant uncomfortably because of that dark and gloomy landscape, and nobody seemed to find the descent amusing, except for a thin girl, with very long hair that was almost dirty blond, on which rested a pair of huge coloured glasses, and big, blue, protruding eyes that sent out sparks in the darkness: she seemed calm and proceeded in leaps. Some pointed at her and laughed loudly, but she gave no sign of embarrassment.

"Did you see the ... _that one?_ " Ginny asked Colin in a barely audible whisper.

"Yes ..." Colin answered, trying not to laugh.

"Pay attention to where you put your feet!" Hagrid warned them. "In a moment: the first overview of Hogwarts!"

Ginny leaned over, almost elbowing in the crowd of students, and then there it was. Hogwarts. Majestic and imposing, it overlooked a large _black lake_ : the windows shone, the towers rose high, and the kids had no breath to describe all that.

 _Magical_ , most likely.

Hagrid pointed to small boats and Ginny wondered if he would be able to get into one of those, then saw him get into a boat much larger than the little boats that they had reserved for the students.

"Not more than four per boat!" Hagrid called as the first years climbed into the boats.

Colin immediately got on the first boat in front of him and helped Ginny, who seemed very hesitant and did not trust the water from the pond accident with her brothers, to get inside. The two were followed by the strange girl, who had put the coloured glasses on her eyes and looked like a big shiny insect, and another girl who looked incredibly like the poor unfortunate soul that Ginny had injured the feet of ... if it was not her. ..

"Everyone on board? Well ... let's go!"

The boats broke away in unison from the shore and slid across the black lake. As they approached the opposite bank, Hogwarts Castle towered increasingly imposingly.

When they arrived at their destination, they walked a little further, then went up a stone stairway before crowding in front of a huge oak door that seemed to be the only entrance to the school.

Hagrid raised his giant fist and knocked: Ginny felt waves of emotion running through her whole body.

The doors opened immediately and there stood a woman with hair tied in a high bun: she was tall and thin, wore a long emerald green dress, and bore a rather severe frown. Ginny understood that it was Professor McGonagall, the famous woman to fill the entire population of Hogwarts students with homework.

"It's her who explained to my parents about me..." Colin whispered.

"Professor McGonagall is very strict," the little Weasley croaked.

"The First-year students, professor," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid, as always, I'll take them inside"

Professor McGonagall opened the front door and the children widened their eyes, amazed by so much grandeur and beauty. Ginny thought that even her house could easily enter the castle entrance without any problem.

She led them forward, towards a large door but did not open it. Instead, she turned, facing them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The banquet at the beginning of the year will take place in the Great Hall in a very short time but before you take a seat you will be sorted in your Houses through the sorting four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Here your success will earn points for your house, while any rule violation will cause you to lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup. The sorting ceremony will start in a very short time."

Colin adjusted his cloak collar and Ginny nervously smoothed her hair.

Wherever she turned, she saw that no one breathed, and everyone tried to nervously adjust their hair or anything else that belonged to the clothes, except for the strange blond-haired girl who looked around curiously: the glasses were hanging from her throat like a necklace.

"Get in line and follow me" ordered the teacher.

McGonagall opened the door and a view of the Great Hall leapt into the eyes of the children.

The Weasleys had always described Hogwarts as a great castle, and above all, they had described the Great Hall as the brightest and most fantastic room, but never could the girl have imagined such a room. The Great Hall looked as majestic as the entire castle, lit by thousands of candles suspended in mid-air under the enchanted ceiling that reflected the sky outside- blue and full of stars, the four tables clapped (Ginny easily recognised Fred and George revelling and Percy scolding them severely).

At the back of the room there sat the teachers, and among them, there was Albus Dumbledore, characterized by a thick, long, white beard that seemed to shed light all around, as if it gave off a kind of shining aura.

"But this is the sky that's outside!"

"Yes, it's a spell," the little girl Ginny had met in Diagon Alley shyly informed them, her head turned to the ceiling. "is written in the book Hogwarts- a History"

"What's that?" said Colin.

"Percy read it," Ginny muttered as she stepped shyly between the tables of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw who all had their eyes on them. "It's a monstrous book, it's as big as a brick ... I would never dream of reading a page"

They stopped near the teacher's table in front of which Professor McGonagall placed a stool with a patched-up, worn-out hat on top that seemed to have been there for years (which it probably has). A large tear in the hat spread even further until it assumed the size of a large mouth, like that of Hagrid, and what was the Talking Hat began to sing:

 **And here we are all at Hogwarts, nice to talk but I'm a hat!**

 **All dirty, worn out, patched up and old, I'm sorry if I might seem a bit fat.**

 **But remember that you do not judge by appearance,**

 **because I will smother you in the four houses of excellence:**

 **If you will end up at Gryffindor,**

 **I am sure that you have courage and audacity in every pore.**

 **Or maybe it's your life in Hufflepuff,**

 **loyal and patient, here the wickedness can't bluff.**

 **Maybe you're wise and you know Gump's law,**

 **and you will find your people in Ravenclaw.**

 **Or maybe to Slytherin, my boy,**

 **if you are astute and ambitious, here you won't find anyone that will annoy.**

 **Now, let's see, if you go to Godric's house, from wild moor,**

 **of Salazar, Helga or Rowena, I won't be wrong I assure.**

 **What are you waiting? put me on your head instantly!**

 **Trust me, you're in safe hands even though I am a bit weighty.**

As soon as the Talking Hat had finished the song, the hall burst into a thunderous applause, obviously led by the twins who were too excited to stay still. The teachers cheered politely as some kids, smiled radiantly at all who looked at them, like Colin. Ginny was too excited to do anything, the weird girl was calm, and the one that was called Demelza (if Ginny's memory did not deceive her) seemed utterly embarrassed in the presence of all those people.

"We only have to try the hat!"

"Oh, but we just have to put the Talking Hat on the head!"

"And I who believed what ..."

"For god's sake, did your parents not tell you?" blurted a child, exasperatedly.

"I think they are Muggle-born, Astoria," a little boy muttered, turning his back to them.

Ginny stared at them in disgust, then looked over the heads of the others, unable to think of anything more sensible.

"When I call your name, you will come forward, you will sit on the stool here, I will put the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses," announced Professor McGonagall, her dark eyes now on a list. "Barlow, Alice!"

A smiling little girl with long black hair stepped out confidently and audaciously toward the stool as if she had no fear of anything in that Great Hall, and the professor put her hat on her head.

"Gryffindor!"

Alice Barlow flipped her dark hair and reached the end of the table on the left, which was left empty for the first years.

"Bennet, Grace"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Creevey, Colin"

Colin glanced at Ginny then trotted to the stool: Professor McGonagall had just put the Sorting Hat onto his head, and it had barely touched his head when it cried out ...

"Gryffindor!"

"Coote, Ritchie"

"Gryffindor!"

Ginny noticed that sometimes the hat immediately called out the house where the kids should have gone while other times it took too long. For example, the boy just called had been sitting more than a minute on the stool.

"Gray, Annie"

"Black, Crow!"

"Greengrass, Astoria"

The girl who had scolded others for not knowing that they should just try the hat was immediately sorted into the Slytherins, along with another pair of mean-looking girls.

"Lovegood, Luna"

The blonde emerged from the crowd dreamily and sat gracefully on the stool, elegantly tidying her clothes. The Sorting Hat took no more than three seconds to sort Lovegood Luna in the Ravenclaws.

Ginny was beginning to get nervous but meanwhile, the sorting flowed fast.

"Probisher, Victoria!"

A girl with blond hair and several copper reflections, she advanced with a radiant smile on her lips towards the Sorting Hat, which took a few seconds before declaring her House of belonging: Gryffindor.

Then it was the turn of "Robins, Demelza" who, after a minute, was also taken by the Gryffindors.

The sorting went on, the Hat called ... again ... and again ... then only Ginny remained.

"Weasley, Ginevra!"

Fred and George clapped ahead of time, and several students giggled loudly: McGonagall frowned, squaring them one by one, then calmly put the Sorting Hat on Ginny's flaming hair.

Ginny had always wanted to be sorted into her _true_ house, and now what is happening to her? Her heart was beginning to seriously sway, and she seriously envied the first girl that had been sorted out and Victoria Probisher for all the audacity of making a steady progress towards her fate.

Her whole family had ended up in Gryffindor because they had courage for nerves and chivalry ... but she? She felt very reckless for all those times that her mother kept her from getting involved, she was just trying to see how much she was worth. The Hufflepuffs were loyal and Ginny was, but she was not patient, that word could be excluded from her dictionary. In Ravenclaws were shining brilliant, intelligent pupils ... every time she returned from school she never wanted to open a book: she was not very fond of knowledge, if not for things that were particularly interesting. Slytherin ... and if it went to Slytherin? Death would have been preferable.

"Ah, a Weasley!" whispered the Talking Hat in her head: it seemed to have listened to all her messed up thoughts and Ginny jumped in fright. "I know _exactly_ where to place you"

"Not Slytherin, I would prefer to die ... I would die rather than be a Slytherin ..."

Ginny felt her hair quiver as if the Hat was giggling. She squeezed the stool tightly.

"Gryffindor!"

It all happened so quickly that Ginny blinked and she was over at the Gryffindor table along with her brothers.

Fred and George, this time, got up on the benches to celebrate for their little sister and Ginny heard Percy scream at them like mad about "the rules that had to be respected in the presence of teachers and the Headmaster of a School of Magic and Sorcery".

Ginny reached the table to the left and slipped between Fred and Colin on a bench.

"Well done, little sis, that was great!" Percy congratulated pompously.

 _It was over!_

Later, she would also write to her parents.

She wondered if Harry Potter had witnessed her sorting ... if he had been looking at her this whole time ...

"Welcome to new students!" Albus Dumbledore began with energy, rising from his chair, "and welcome back, to our old friends at a new school year here at Hogwarts! Well, now is not the time for notices ... so let's tuck in: start the feast!"

Dumbledore did not sit down but left the Great Hall, under the eyes of students and teachers, followed by Professor McGonagall. And they were in a hurry, seeing by the way they went out and skipped dinner. Many people looked around but no one seemed particularly worried: they all plunged their heads into the gold plates that exhibited dishes of all kinds. Ginny had never seen anything like this in her life, even though her mother was a very good cook and she always cooked a lot of stuff.

"But why were they in such a hurry?" Colin asked curiously while stuffing himself with food.

"Hey, Percy ..." Ginny said, and her brother, who was right in front of her, turned immediately. "How come to Dumbledore and McGonagall just left the hall?"

"Ah, it's because of those two _irresponsible ones_ none other than Ron and Harry!" he snapped.

"So that's true?"

Ginny winced at the feeling of unnatural frost: a ghost with a ruff had just crossed her body. A ghost with a ruff ... but then was that Almost-Headless-Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor? Her brothers had described him to her, and this couldn't be anyone but him.

"Unfortunately, yes, Sir Nicholas"

"Who is Harry? You didn't tell me you had a brother named Harry ... or is he your cousin?"

"Sorry," Ginny replied with a strange twinkle in her brown eyes. "Harry Potter is my brother Ron's best friend"

She stopped eating, with her fork in the air, and her eyes lit up completely: Harry Potter ... he had seen her all that time ... he had watched her while she was wearing the Talking Hat ... _that was heaven!_

Ginny shook her back into reality and noticed that Colin gasped.

"AND YOU DID NOT TELL ME SO?" he shrieked. "Oh heaven ... Harry Potter ... I read so much about him ... the only one who survived the attack of the evilest wizard of all time ... quoted in _Great Wizards of the Twentieth century_.. oh heaven! "

Ginny would have liked to laugh on one occasion, but at that moment she had just realized that Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall had hurried out of the Great Hall because of Ron and Harry. And Ron and Harry were not there, the girl did not see them. Looking back, she had not even seen them on platform nine and three quarters ... not even in Hogwarts' Express ... could something have happened right under their noses without anyone noticing?

"But what happened to Percy?"

"I have never envied anyone as I envy them!" Fred intervened.

"Them?" urged the girl.

"They ... oh you say, George!"

"Ron and Harry have ... oh you say, Percy!"

"They missed the train and to come here to Hogwarts they flew without permission the car that Dad had secretly enchanted!" he said in one breath, and Ginny spilt all her pumpkin juice onto the table, causing the little black-haired girl and what appeared to be her partner to scream.

"Oh, that will be trouble at the ministry!"

"He will talk about it for years!" a dark boy with rasta curls, sitting next to George, intervened. "Are you his little sister?" he added looking at Ginny, who felt her cheeks turn into a furnace.

"Yes, she's Ginny," Fred said absently. "Ginny, this is Lee Jordan: the friend we talked about so much"

The girl smiled sheepishly as she shook hands with Lee Jordan.

"Who knows what their punishment will be ..." George mumbled, moving his tuft of red hair from his eyes.

"Can someone be expelled for such things?" asked Hermione Granger, Ron and Harry's best friend, who was listening to their conversation, and sat between a round-faced boy and Lee Jordan.

"Oh, sure!" promptly replied Percy. "They really deserve it, both of them! Stealing the car from Dad to come here… What the hell did they have in mind? They could have sent an owl to Hogwarts... oh there will be trouble at the Ministry! "

"I agree with you," Hermione said immediately, and Percy looked rather pleased. "They could have sent a message to the teachers through owl and instead they preferred to get into trouble"

"There will be just trouble at the Ministry ..." repeated Percy thoughtfully.

"Will they expel them?" Hermione asked restlessly.

"No, I do not think so," said Fred.

"Why not?"

"Those two always get away"

The first year Gryffindors had followed Percy to the entrance of the Gryffindor Tower: he had shown them the way but Ginny had couldn't remember anything after several corridors and doors. Fortunately, Percy was her brother! She could ask for the way whenever she wanted, unlike the other children. They climbed upstairs, looking adoringly at the paintings whispering to each other, pointing them... turning hidden doors and tapestries ... and they went up again until they were facing the big picture of an old lady dressed all in pink, the Fat Lady, that Ginny had heard about so much.

The password was _Caput Draconis_ and the first-year kids entered climbing through the picture (someone needed a good push) and entered their Common Room.

The Common Room of Gryffindor was all red and gold, welcoming, round, and full of soft sofas and armchairs. Percy pointed to the girls for a door leading to their dorm while he pointed to another to the boys.

"Then there ..." Colin yawned loudly. "See you tomorrow for breakfast?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight"

Ginny climbed the spiral staircase that led to the girls' dormitories and opened the door on which was written 'First-year students'. Inside there were five four-poster beds with red curtains, and all four girls had pyjamas and chatted happily. The girl did not remember their names very well, apart from Demelza Robins and... no, she did not remember them.

Demelza looked at her and smiled encouragingly.

"Hi," he said. "We clashed at Diagon Alley, remember?"

"Yes ..." Ginny answered, blushing in the cheeks area. "Demelza Robins, right?"

"Exactly, Ginny Weasley," she said.

"I am Vicky Probisher, my pleasure!"

The girl had blonde hair and blue-grey eyes, a good bearing and a voice too loud. She approached Ginny and shook her hand with energy as if she wanted to give her courage to get closer because the little Weasley was still standing under the arch of the door like a cod. The other two girls did not seem to want to approach but they did, almost snubbing and looking at her from head to toe but with a smile.

"Alice Barlow, I was the first to be sorted into Gryffindor!" she exclaimed as if that was a great thing and Ginny smiled, not knowing what else to do, and especially what to say otherwise...

"Pleasure!"

Alice was very pretty: she had long black hair and bright green eyes that looked incredibly like Harry Potter's, and then she was very tall and shapely for an eleven-year-old girl.

"I'm Rose Owen!"

"Ginny Weasley" repeated the little girl

Rose Owen, on the other hand, was not as skinny as the other two but she was also very shapely: she had short brown hair and intense blue eyes: on her hair, she wore a kind of band that matched the colour of her eyes.

After these presentations, Ginny walked over to her bed near the window and put her pyjamas in a way that made her look like a zombie because she was very tired from the trip and her stomach was bursting from the feast. She wanted to write a letter to her parents ... she wanted to write to Tom Riddle in her diary but he just could not do it.

In two minutes she fell in deep sleep.

* * *

 ** _So yeah that's the end of the chapter. You just met the people Ginny will spend all her school years with, obviously not everyone but some good friends and enemies are there. Again the original fan fiction is in the following link:_**

 ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371_**

 ** _~Hope you liked it ~_**

 ** _~`Ermory`~_**

 ** _Edited by: Helena Hansilton_**


	3. First Day in the Castle

Soo, here I am ...ok I did say that I was not going to publish every day but surprisingly this chapter is short and it took less time to translate..so this is a treat for you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, the only thing I did was translate, everything belongs to JK Rowling and the writer of this story is EmPotter

Original Link: ?action=printall&sid=1166371

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 **First Day in the castle**

The sun sneaked through the curtains of Ginny's four-poster bed and the girl dipped her head under the pillow, blinded by the sun's rays. Yet she remembered she had closed the curtains well! But ... what curtains? Her bed at the Burrow did not have curtains and her tranquillity would not last long: her mother would come to wake her up at any moment, or the cries of some of her brothers would make her jump startled.

Ginny opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by red curtains.

What Burrow, what screams and shouts ... she was at Hogwarts, it was all real!

The girl smiled, then felt a certain movement and spied through the curtains: Demelza tried to keep up with Alice and Rose but they ignored her, and chatting cheerfully they disappeared through the door.

Ginny opened her curtains and stood up.

"Good morning," she said to Demelza, who looked rather offended, as she adjusted her brown braids.

"Hi," she answered smiling.

"What time is it? I would not want to be late for ..."

"... the lessons," concluded Demelza but Ginny meant to say breakfast. "It's ten past eight and classes start at nine o'clock, I would not be here if it was later, do not worry"

The girl smiled for not having anything to say and ran to the bathroom to get ready. She took a quick shower and dressed in Hogwarts uniform: black stockings, black shoes, black skirt, white blouse with pinned red-gold (Gryffindor colours) tie, a grey sweater and a cloak.

Then, already all prepared, she combed her hair and pinned two coloured clothespins onto her flaming hair. She came out of the bathroom, finding herself alone in the female dormitory, and went downstairs to the Common Room.

"Ginny, you too in Gryffindor, I knew it!"

The girl turned to face her brother Ron and Harry going down the spiral staircases of the male dormitory room: Ron smiled at his little sister and overtook her with a pat on the shoulder as Harry gave her a serene look.

Ginny could have cooked eggs on her cheeks.

After a few seconds, the girl pulled her head away and went through the portrait hole: she had been real stupid! Ron and Harry had just come down, she could be accompanied by them in the Great Hall, maybe Harry would have been even happy ... but no. She had not really thought about it, and she no longer remembered what corridor to go to reach the Great Hall.

She decided to walk to clear her mind but did not know where to begin.

He accidentally saw a _little ghost_ who was leaping at the children, humming a little tune full of bad words (Ginny was not surprised that much: she had learned so much because of Ron, Fred and George), and shyly approached him.

"Oooooh, a lost first year!"

"I ... er ... I was wondering if you could ... um ... show me the way to the Great Hall"

"Peeves, get away!" the voice of her brother Percy burst out and the ghost, after a rasp, disappeared.

"He was pointing me the way!"

"Oh no, Peeves just wanted to confuse your ideas, come on, I'm here," he said, and putting a hand behind her back he had her walk down that corridor, until she moved a tapestry and headed straight. "You have to look out for Peeves the Poltergeist: he can get you to the less convenient places, like a trick stair or the one where a step disappears, and you get stuck there until someone comes to free you" Ginny swallowed. "He can even take the carpet from under your feet and put the trash basket on your head. _Stuff you can't believe_! I do not know why Dumbledore still wants to have him around!"

"I'll never remember the way," the girl muttered, looking around.

"It's easy," said Percy encouragingly. "Once you start walking through it every day, you won't forget it. Listen to me Ginny, at Hogwarts there are a hundred and forty-two stairways, some normal, some dangerous, and some that take to different places on Fridays unless you tickle it in the right places. Also, some walls may look like doors but they are not at all, also be careful about the armor, which usually walk through the corridors creaking horribly, and don't be deceived by the constantly moving portraits. _Ah_ , and then there is Filch the keeper and his cat Mrs Norris, who have been fighting with the students for years: Filch always threatens the students to lock them in the basement if he catches them through the corridors. "

"Oh, very clear," the girl answered and nodded.

She realized this gave her a slight headache.

They reached the Great Hall and Percy decided it was time for Ginny to get away on her own, with his teachings, so the little girl picked out Colin at the Gryffindor table and ran past Harry Potter's neck as he talked to her brother and Hermione Granger.

"Good morning!" Colin happily greeted her as she took a seat next to him, who was in the company of another two boys. "Slept well, guess what Ritchie Coote told me last night while I was putting my camera down?"

"Who is Ritchie Coote?"

"Him"

Colin pointed to a boy who was sitting at that moment, a little lanky, with light hair and hazel eyes: Ginny opened her mouth without having anything to say, then closed it and greeted him energetically by presenting her hand. Ritchie smiled shyly at her.

"He's very kind to me," Colin whispered when the boy was distracted.

Ginny stared at him.

"I was saying ... Ritchie told me that if I develop the film in the right position, my photos _will move_! Is not it fantastic?" Colin declared excitedly. "Today I will stop Harry Potter and ask him to take a picture with me, what do you think, ill I do well?

"Great idea! Then you can show it to me ..." Ginny answered while serving herself the porridge.

She had breakfast, with Colin talking in her ears like a machine gun, only responding occasionally with expressions like "Mmh" or "right" or "Um ... true", and she was not sorry about that: she was too busy eating and looking at Harry Potter from the other end of the table to be _serious_ about listening to Colin, and she nearly sent her fork flying to the Hufflepuff table nearby.

Half-way through breakfast, Professor McGonagall distributed the schedule for first-year students.

 **Monday.**

 **From 9.00 to 10.00 am: Transfiguration.**

 **From 10.00 to 11.00: Flight.**

 **From 11.00 to 12.00: Defense against the Dark Arts.**

 **From 12.00 to 13.00: Break before lunch.**

 **From 13.00 to 14.00: Lunch.**

 **From 14.00 to 15.00: Break after lunch.**

 **From 15.00 to 16.00: History of Magic.**

 **From 16.00 to 17.00 pm: Charms.**

"From five o'clock after Charms we are free!" exclaimed Colin excitedly.

Ginny read her schedule carefully, while Colin commented and ranted about the fact that the flying lessons were held together with the Ravenclaws, and so he had to make himself ridiculous in front of the Ravenclaw girls. Ginny, for her part, could not wait to start flying lessons, even though she already knew everything about riding brooms and Quidditch, thanks to the constant training with her brother's brooms as a child.

She could not wait to get started and show the teacher that she would show them how she had already ridden a broom and already knew everything about that subject: at least she was sure that in one subject she would do great.

The bell rang.

"We have Transfiguration, come on!" Colin urged them and ran to the exit with his bag bouncing on his back.

Ginny followed him, passing Harry Potter, who was about to get up, so she turned around to look at him until she made a fool of herself for the time in the day: bumping into a third year Hufflepuff who moaned in pain.

Now in the lesson, Ginny immediately learnt that magic lessons were quite another thing than waving a wand and saying a few formulas that would allow her to do the things that the Weasley boys did, and that was certainly not of great help.

Professor McGonagall was, as many of them had already said, very strict and smart.

After doing the register, she made a long speech to the first years that started from Transfiguration and finished with the rules that had to be respected in her classroom and, above all, outside the classes and then in the castle.

She even gave a practical show of Transfiguration, turning her desk into a pig and so on: the children could not wait to start practising, but obviously it would take a long time before they could transfigure some piece of furniture into an animal.

Ginny was sitting next to Demelza Robins during Transfiguration, and both of them, including the rest of the kids, took a mountain of notes that caused the little Weasley's arm, which was not used to writing this much, to start throbbing.

After they had finished with the notes, McGonagall gave them a little practical test: trying to turn a match into a needle.

At the end of the lesson, only Demelza succeeded in the undertaking and the teacher rewarded her by giving five points to Gryffindor. The girl, intimidated, did not boast to her class but blushed violently.

Immediately after Transfiguration, the flying lesson with the Ravenclaws awaited them: Colin would have gladly spent another hour doing Transfiguration rather than flying in front of everyone, but Ginny was very excited.

Many people, the girl noticed, were very agitated at the thought of flying. For example, that same morning, Alice Barlow and Rose Owen were bombarding Demelza Robins with questions, for she was the only girl to have read Quidditch Through The Ages, and seemed to understand something, including Victoria, who interrupted Demelza from time to time to add something.

The flying lesson was not so bad and they did not fly, but that for Colin was good.

The little Gryffindors had just enough time to get a quick wash, for the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Gilderoy Lockhart was waiting for them with open arms.

"Ooooh, it will be cool!" Alice exclaimed as they headed to class.

"Have you read the things he did?" Rose asked, with shining eyes.

"When I heard he was coming to Hogwarts, I could not believe it"

"He's so _brave!_ "

"Do they seriously believe he did all those things?" Victoria whispered, choking down her laughter.

Ginny and Demelza turned to her, while Colin and his companions, Ritchie, Christopher and William, were too busy giggling and pointing to Alice and Rose to pay attention to what Victoria Probisher said.

"It was not Lockhart?" Ginny asked, frowning.

"I don't think so..."

"My father doesn't believe him either," Demelza intervened timidly. "My mother has gone crazy for Lockhart! Maybe that's why Dad doesn't believe that it was him that did all the things he wrote in the books ..."

All three of them laughed and entered the classroom: Gilderoy Lockhart was late.

They all took a seat (Ginny between Victoria and Demelza at the penultimate bench) and heard a cough: their professor had just entered with an elegant step and now he walked around the classroom as everyone's eyes were focused on him. He went up to the desk and reached out his hand taking the _Trekking with the trolls_ book that was on Alice's desk to show the class a photograph of him that winked impertinently.

"Here I am," he said, smiling pleasantly. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the League for the Defense against the Dark Arts and five times winner of the award for the Most Seductive Smile promoted by _Witch Weekly_ "

Ginny chuckled; Alice and Rose sighed.

Lockhart went through the register and spoke for almost an hour of himself, of everything there was to know about his exploits and how he had defeated creatures without the least help of anyone, bragging about it to the class and not ceasing to smile and to almost give a heart attack to the two girls at the first desk who were as red as tomatoes. Yes, as Ginny had said several times, Lockhart was just _fascinating_ but that lesson turned out to be more of a joke than a real Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

"Unfortunately you are too young and if next year, God willing, I will still be here to teach you how to fight with the most horrible creatures known to the Wizards' lineage," he said and bent down to collect a large cage covered with a white cloth he placed it on the desk. "Now I will take the cloth from the cage ... I have to ask you not to scream: it could stir them up!"

The class held their breath and he, with a theatrical gesture, raised the blanket.

Christopher Jones laughed.

"Cornish Pixies?" he asked sceptically.

"Cornish Pixies just caught," added Lockhart, pointing a cautionary finger at the boy, but he was not angry, and he did not do it sternly. Colin burst out laughing as he watched the electric-blue Pixies making faces at each other. "Laugh, Mr Creevey ... but the Pixies can be evil, I could have freed them now but I can not do it to show you that you too would have been in trouble"

"He would have been the first to escape," Christopher muttered, and Colin chuckled again.

The bell rang and the class was more than happy to abandon Lockhart.

Ginny and Colin started making their way to the Gryffindor Tower following the others when they saw Harry, Ron and Hermione pass by, chatting among themselves without noticing anyone: the girl blushed and so did her partner.

"Oooh, Harry Potter is going to the yard!" exclaimed Colin excitedly, stopping suddenly.

"You want to follow him?"

"The picture with him! When does such an occasion come to me?"

Ginny chuckled.

"Coming with me?"

"Oh no!" the girl replied in a hurry. "I'll see you!"

And she started towards the Gryffindor Tower, trying to remember the way.

After Colin had left Ginny alone, she had strayed from her classmates and, above all, from Alice and Rose, and had joined the twins and Percy who also fought at Hogwarts, arousing the laughter of those around (Colin had left even after lunch to follow Harry Potter).

Fred and George supported an open battle with their brother Prefect by stating that Lockhart was a _baboon_ and that rather than listening to him as he talked about himself they would rather become Prefects. Percy argued in return that Gilderoy Lockhart was still a teacher and that no one in their right mind would choose his brothers as Prefects.

"But who cares if _Witch Weekly_ won him a prize for the 'Most Seductive Smile' or what he says he has done in his big books!"

"He wants us to experience, Fred!"

Ginny laughed so much and so childishly that everyone in the Common Room turned to look at her. For a moment, the girl ignored the convoluted giggles aroused by her laugh, and proposed that the twins and Percy give themselves a bit of truce but all three looked at her in a frown, telling her that they preferred her to shut up and not take part, or shoot some childish nonsense.

Then she saw Colin running towards her and could not wait to tell her something.

"What?" said the girl as he dragged her away from the litigants.

"Harry Potter noticed me while I looked at him and I walked up and asked him if I can take a picture of him so he could sign it, but suddenly a blond boy intervened and started to make fun of him. Well I told him he was jealous but he denied it, then your brother intervened and he and - the guy called Malfoy - got in a fight - and guess what - Lockhart came and made me take a picture of him and Harry next to each other! Crazy, eh? "

He had told all that without taking a breath and Ginny almost laughed.

It was very nice of Colin to defend Harry and tell that arrogant Draco Malfoy that he was jealous because he certainly was, but in a courtyard? In front of all those people?

The bell rang.

"Ooh, It's time for History of Magic and Charms!"

"Let's go..."

The History of Magic lesson had been a deadly bore. To teach it was a ghost professor named Binns who was already very old when he had died in front of the fireplace in the hall of professors, thus becoming a ghost. His voice was laconic and monotonous, and the kids struggled not to fall asleep.

Ginny peered at Demelza Robins' notes and copied all the names and dates that Professor Binns had listed and said to take notes: they all had names like Emeric the Evil or Uric Crazy Head, and everyone was totally confused.

Professor Flitwick, on the other hand, was a very short teacher who had to climb a pile of books to see beyond the desk. He had a shrieking voice and had them practice with the wand for simple spells such as the spell that would allow kids to lift objects. Needless to say, at the end of the lesson, only Demelza managed to levitate her feather.

Ginny was now in the dormitory, and, closing the curtains tightly, opened her diary and wrote:

 _Dear Tom Riddle, I have not written to you for two days and I apologize. I arrived at Hogwarts the day before yesterday and I was sorted into Gryffindor. Right, I just finished my afternoon classes: this is my first day here._

 **Hello my dear, excuses accepted. Are you in Gryffindor? I suppose you are very brave, congratulations. Tell me about your first days at the castle, if you want to.**

Ginny did not have to see it twice and told everything that had happened since the morning of the train, her trip to Hogwarts' Express, her meeting with Colin and the fact that they had always been together, the Sorting and her first day at the castle. She only remembered at the last minute that she had omitted the part where Ron and Harry were not present due to the collision with the car.

 _One thing that disappointed me is that my brother and Harry were not present at the sorting_

 **Harry? Harry who?** Riddle asked.

 _Harry Potter, of course._

 **I do not think I've ever heard of him ... but tell me about him.**

The girl was super happy to tell the story of Harry Potter to Tom Riddle and he listened to it all, never asking indiscreet questions as if he already knew something but it was impossible: he was just a diary!

They kept talking and talking ... then Ginny saw the time: it was eight o'clock.

 _I have to go have dinner, Tom. I can not wait to hear from you again!_

 **Same here, Ginny. Hope to see you soon.**

Ginny closed the diary and hid it in the trunk with a big smile on her lips.

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oooh, Tom triked naive Ginny...well we all knew that...

anyway, please do areview and give me your opinions I really wanted other people other than Italians to enjoy this beautiful fanfiction so seeing that people liked it would motivate me more... thanks for reading tho!

Original Link: ?action=printall&sid=1166371

~Ermory

Editor: Helena Haansilton ( you know like Hamilton, Hether's and Dear Evan Hansen)


	4. Not everything is roses and flowers

_**Sooo, Ok do not get your hopes up totally not going to update every day, it just happened that I translated chapter after a day, do not think this is something that will always happen.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own either the story, writing or character; They belong toJK Rowling and EmPotter**_

 _ **Original Lik: ?action=printall &sid=1166371**_

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 **Not everything is flowers and roses**

In the days that followed, things did not go so well for little Ginny Weasley.

Already on the second day of school she had to defend herself from the attacks of some first and second year Slytherins, who did nothing but tease her for the alleged Howeler her mother had sent to Ron, imitating Mrs Weasley's voice and laughing stupidly. All, of course, led by Draco Malfoy, who crowned everything with his contemptuous jokes: Ginny tried to defend herself with the first things that crossed her mind but what she knew for sure was that the things she said were _too_ childish to hurt someone.

Even more exasperating were her brothers, Fred and George, who threw themselves on her like vultures whenever they saw her sad or thoughtful, teasing her every time and making her scream like a crow all over the Gryffindor Tower, causing laughter from Alice Barlow and Rose Owen. These girls were even more annoying than any Slytherin: they looked at Ginny as if she was a sea snail, and all they did was mumbling incomprehensible things in each other's ears. Ginny had taken that nasty habit of estrangement from her companions, and for Colin, Demelza and Vicky, that was quite exasperating.

That Friday afternoon, after particularly boring morning lessons in History of Magic and Herbology, the Gryffindor first years headed to the dungeons for their third lesson of Potions with the Slytherins.

Ginny entered the dungeon greeted by the Slytherins with whispers and giggles.

"Sit down," Professor Snape nodded, Ginny's least-favourite teacher, entering the classroom.

Severus Snape always dressed in black, his hair black and greasy, with black eyes: he looked like a particularly overgrown bat. Everyone hated him because he was a teacher who only favoured his students, those of Slytherin, and that gave them the best of everything. Ginny had never understood why Snape had it with her more than the others... maybe because she was a 'Weasley' and her brothers had bothered him over the years? That's probably it.

That day they had to practice with a potion that would cure pimples, and Snape split them up in pairs: little Weasley went, much to Rose Owen's disappointment (she was looking at her like she wanted to incinerate her), with William Todd, a tall, curly-haired boy in her class, with eyes of pure ice.

They read the instructions together and set their cauldrons on the fire, which, when they were heated, began to emanate a steam that rose dense and spiralling: Ginny liked that chemical effect very much.

"Hey, Weasley!"

A little girl with a long nose and long brown hair that belonged to the Slytherins caught her attention with a giggle. Once again she was disturbed and she tried to stay calm, especially in Severus Snape's dungeon!

"What did your mother say? Hey, Harper, what did the mom say? "

"Um, it was almost like that: _how dare you steal the car!_ " nastily recited the little boy named Harper, with harsh, grim features. " _I'm really disappointed!_ "

The Slytherins burst out laughing as Ginny turned purple.

"That's enough!" she offended her.

Severus Snape, meanwhile, continued to wander furtively among the desks to see what the students were doing: they saw him throw a look of pure disgust at Colin's cauldron when he approached him, who was paired with Rose Owen, next to Demelza and Alice Barlow. Ginny thought it could not be worse than to be with Rose and Alice.

Then Snape blurted out something distracting the rest of the class and the Slytherins kept mocking Ginny.

"Weasley, guess what? I heard from Draco that a Potter's autograph is worth more than your home!"

"Harper and Astoria Greengrass," Vicky hissed in irritation, working with Ritchie next to her. William, who was watching her nervously beneath the square glasses, as if he hoped with all his heart not to see her lose control and burn everything in the basement. "Gosh ... they are unbearable nuisances!"

"Ignore them" blew Ritchie.

"Then her house is worth zero!" they continued.

"What are you saying! Less than zero, if anything: the Potter autograph is not worth even a butt!"

The girl ferociously threw four _horned snails_ into the cauldron and was also about to add two more, rude and absent-minded, when William jerked her hand firmly: Rose nudged Alice.

"Ooh, by a hair ... do you really want me to laugh at you for a month?" he snapped. "You were seriously in danger of blowing up everything ... do you have any idea how much they would have made fun of you, those Slytherins?"

"I'm sorry..."

"But why are we sure the Weasleys live in a house, and what if _she_ and her brother sleep in a pigpen at home?" Ginny could not stand that accusation: she turned around ignoring William and snapped like an angry fury.

"YOU ARE ALL DISGUSTING SNAKES!" she shouted angrily and immediately regretted it.

There was silence in the room, broken only by the noise of the cauldrons that simmered.

Snape looked at the little Weasley with eyes narrowed into two cracks from which threatening sparks seemed to come out. He approached her, ignoring the Slytherins who still grunted without restraint: it seemed that what Ginny had said had not hurt them at all. the girl did not expect them to be offended because everything she said was a childish accusation that would not offend even a hippogriff.

The students held their breath when Snape reached her.

"I remind you, Weasley, that I was silent when I entered the classroom," he said in a quietly hissing, disgustingly irritated voice, as Harper and Astoria pointed at her. "Just like your brother! Five points will be removed from the Gryffindor because of you"

And after a look of deep disgust, he turned away from her with a rustle of his cape while Alice gasped.

Ritchie looked at her sadly.

"I told you, you had to ignore them"

The afternoon lessons were not so bad but Ginny's mood seemed to have dug the ditch by itself and the twins did not help at all in that situation: they had pecked their sister with a funeral face and had personally taken care of getting her a bit around before Percy intervened and put an end to that show in the entrance hall, much to Ginny's disappointment that she was, for the first time in her life, grateful and in agreement with that madman of a brother's Prefectuccio.

The girl finished her homework alone in the Common Room, not far from Colin, Ritchie, Christopher and William, but the dark mood of little Weasley was at times to waver and become even more gloomy: Rose was walking the room in strides, marching towards her, followed by Alice who walked with a haughty air like a bodyguard.

"So what's up?" she asked Ginny, taking command of the situation.

"Oh well," she lied.

The two girls grimaced.

"You should not have screamed in class, you know?"

"Yes, I know ... I got angry"

The boys, who were listening not far from the three girls, immediately put their stuff in order to intervene in the conversation: Ritchie Coote, even if with a certain shyness, could not wait to say something and stared slightly at Alice.

"Snape always exaggerates, I heard," he said. "He gets angry with everyone except the Slytherins"

"Yeah, I've heard, it's unfair, is not it? Snape can not behave like that, can he?" Colin said, beginning to ask questions one after the other without ever taking a breath. "I never imagined a teacher like that. What do you think, Ritchie?"

"Yes, Colin," Christopher replied laconically and amusedly as William nodded impatiently.

"Well, anyway ... Snape took away points from Gryffindor, the points _I had earned_ in Herbology with Professor Sprout!" said Alice and Ginny noticed a slight charge in her voice.

But did she really care about the points that the Gryffindor lost? Fred and George had lost so many points from their house, but no one had ever been offended like that and she did it in a tragic way. Did you really believe that five missing rubies would attract the attention of the boys who would have accused Ginny of hampering the path to winning the House Cup?

"I did not do it on purpose ..." the girl muttered with obviousness.

"Yes, but _this_ is not the point" intervened Rose who finally managed to open her mouth, and looked at William with intensity. " _She_ was about to make a real tragedy happen! She was about to blow up her partner's cauldron!"

Christopher laughed, followed by Colin.

"But it did not happen!" Ginny said in a really confusing state.

She did not really know where those two little girls were going...

"Okay, all right! What I really want is to propose an exchange: I will partner with William and _she_ with Creevey" Rose cut short while Alice giggled softly, turning her back on the boys.

William blushed violently, Colin and Christopher laughed and Ginny and Ritchie frowned.

"There's nothing wrong!" blurted Alice taking over and crossing her arms angrily. "If Creevey and Weasley mess up, their cauldron is in a corner of the dungeon and if that bursts it will not jeopardize the lives of the other kids in the class!"

This time Colin did not hold back and laughed seriously, ignoring the fact that Alice had just offended him, along with Ginny, preferring that they die in the explosion of the cauldron rather than annoy the class. Although the class did not seem to be the problem of the two girls.

While Colin, Christopher and Ritchie replied that statement, Ginny slipped away just wanting to get away from everyone.

Rose and Alice did not care so much about the class: all those turns were for the fact that Rose wanted to stay next to William because she was liked him- honestly, and who wouldn't? Even Ginny thought he was nice but would not have made a scene in front of everyone, pretending to be worried about the class and then do a wrong to her partner. Because the two girls, jealous that the small, childish and awkward Ginny Weasley partnered with the cutest boy in their year was a crime.

They wanted to humiliate her in front of him and in front of everyone.

Ginny realized she was shaking with rage: Why did they not leave her alone?

She looked out the window and saw the wooden hut that belonged to no one but Hagrid, Ron, Harry and Hermione's friend, the friend the three of them always went to visit ... the three of them always went to find ... _Harry Potter always visited him_. Just what she wanted now: seeing Harry Potter will be able to raise Ginny's spirits.

Why had she not thought of it before?

He was the only person able to make her happy, and Hagrid would have gladly let her in.

Ginny raised a tiny fist and knocked three times.

"Go away Fang ... to the doghouse, go to bed!"

Hagrid opened the door and roared with joy.

"Hey Hagrid," she felt a little awkward and embarrassed at the same time.

"Ron's little sister, eh? I remember you, we met ... come in, come in!"

Ginny obeyed and entered, closing the door behind her and finding herself in the strangest house she had ever seen. In fact, it was no more a house than a hut: it had only one wooden circular room, it was messed up, from the ceiling pheasants, hams and other horrors hung like unicorn tails. There were also two windows, one that overlooked a small vegetable garden and the other that faced the edge of the Forbidden Forest, with the Hogwarts castle on the right.

It was very welcoming, just like the Burrow.

"Sit down, Ginny, sit down ...feel at home!"

Ginny looked around and sat down on a large chair before standing up and screaming with fright: Fang tried to lick her freckled face but after a couple of 'away' went into his bed to drool.

"Er ... are you alone?" the girl hesitated, even though she already knew the answer.

Harry Potter, her brother, and Hermione Granger could not be hidden under the wooden table.

"I'm alone yes," replied Hagrid suspiciously. "I was out here in the garden: look 'what I'm growing! They are pumpkins for Halloween. I know it's a little early but for the thirty-first of October they will be big"

Ginny leaned out the window and saw that the pumpkins in Hagrid's garden were gigantic, the size of a big boulder, and they were bright orange: they just seemed to come out of magic, if it was not so ...

"But how...?"

"Hog spell," the giant said proudly, swelling his chest. "With Dumbledore's order, you understand"

"You did a great job!"

"Anyway, why are you here? Not, that I do not like your visit, wouldn't miss it!"

"Oh ... I ... um ..." Ginny started stuttering embarrassed, which certainly did not escape Hagrid.

"Were you hoping to find Hermione, your brother and Harry?" he asked and in the name of Harry Potter, Ginny blushed violently.

"Of course not! I was on a walk... I passed by here and knocked" Hagrid seemed to grasp the lie and the girl swore to have seen a smile appear in the thick beard but it was very well hidden and Ginny was grateful because he did not reply and did not return to the topic 'Why are you here?' or, indirectly, on the subject of 'Harry Potter'.

They stood talking for a long time about Hogwarts, the first day, Gryffindor and all that Ginny had no problem discussing, except of course how her brothers and the snakes teased. How would Ron or Percy react if they came to discover that the twins embarrassed Ginny and that, worse still, the Slytherins made her life impossible, like Alice and Rose, on the other hand? The ruckus would have broken out.

Of that, she could only talk about it with ...

"Tom Riddle" the girl whispered quietly as Hagrid chatted away happily.

The sun was about to fall on the horizon, a sign that he had to return to the castle.

"Oooh, it's late Hagrid!" jumped up the girl.

"Goodness me, I had not noticed!" Hagrid exclaimed as she tried to open the gigantic door with an effort. He went to the rescue. "Do you want me to take you to the castle? It's dark quickly ..."

"Oh no, thank you"

"Come and see me when you like, eh!"

"Sure!"

Ginny walked toward up path, just wanting to lie down on her bed to talk to Tom Riddle.

 _Dear Tom, today was a pretty tough day. As they are all, on the other side._

 **Hey Ginny, tell me everything.**

 _First of all, I cannot stand anymore my brothers, Fred and George, they always make fun of everything I do. Percy, the older one at Hogwarts, was very nice instead: he defended me by telling the twins to leave me alone, even if ... he's really very heavy and boring to be with. However, the days here at Hogwarts do not pass as I had hoped: my two classmates are not nice to me and so is the potions teacher. It's frustrating!_

 **Little Ginny Weasley! Do not worry about your brothers, you will see that they will not exceed the limit: if they see you too angry or indifferent with them they will stop pursuing you. As for the days at Hogwarts, enjoy them all and do not think about anyone.** _ **Live as if it were your last chance!**_ **You will never get another first year. Swear to me that you will do it!**

 _I swear, Tom._

 **I want you like that.**

Ginny smiled like an idiot at the diary: Tom Riddle really knew how to talk to her, he was kind, ready to help every time. It had never happened to have such a fortune, and never in her life would she have imagined finding a little book the friend and adviser of her dreams. She thought of thanking him for the many tips that Tom gave her but it was almost midnight, and she had to go to the Astronomy Tower for their first lesson of Astronomy with Professor Sinistra.

"Ginny, are you awake?" asked the voice of Demelza.

 _I have to go to Astronomy class. See you tomorrow!_

 **Good work, Ginny Weasley.**

"I'm awake" the girl pulled the curtains and put on her shoes. "Even if I wish I would not be ..."

"This fact that we have to get up at midnight to study the stars is irritating," Vicky immediately replied in a manner already stale and very irritated, all swollen with sleep.

And after waiting for her to be completely awake, they set off for the Astronomy Tower.

* * *

Do _ **you like the story? If so please do not be afraid to post a review.**_

 _ **I'm waiting for the next chapter to be checked out, and I am starting to translate the one after that don't worry**_

 _ **Original Link: ?action=printall &sid=1166371**_

 _ **~Ermory**_

 _ **Editor: Helena Hamilton**_


	5. A scary Halloween

_**So yeah, my Editor ( Helena Haansilton ) finished editing this, don't know when I will be able to update the next chapter because next week I have 3 GCSEs: Biology, Chemistry and Math. Wish me luck.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters, they belong to JK Rowling and the writer is EmPotter, I just translate**_

 _ **Original link:**_ ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371_**

* * *

 **A scary Halloween**

The next day, Ginny, Demelza, Robins and Vicky Probisher woke up when it was almost nine, almost late for Saturday morning lessons. Demelza was very shocked and did nothing but scream accusations at herself. She really was a _very_ anxious girl and this made Ginny stir up and start murmuring, cursing and looking more like her mother at the end of an outburst. Vicky yawned sleepily from her side and prepared quietly, though reluctantly as if the hour did not flow at all.

To their misfortune, they arrived late at the charms class, even after missing breakfast, which Ginny could not understand because she was used to eating so early in the morning, but since Professor Flitwick was quite understanding, he let that delay pass and Demelza resumed her usual color, even if her pallor took a bit to go away.

That morning, the first year Gryffindor practised the _Wingardium Leviosa_ spell while they chatted away happily. Colin, who was sitting in front of Ginny, explained that he had followed Harry Potter to a Quidditch training that morning and that he was forced to leave because Harry had gone away with Hermione Granger and Ron, who was vomiting live slugs due to a fight with Draco Malfoy: Vicky, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, shrieked in disgust as Ginny laughed and Demelza's face was amused and compassionate.

After the lessons Ginny noticed that the news of Ron Weasley throwing out slugs was not passed in silence by the Slytherin boys, who continued to tease the girl for it, and she wondered what she even had to do with it: she was neither present nor found funny the fact that her brother had stumbled on that idiotic spell. But, as Ritchie Coote had rightly said, the snakes just liked to annoy those who seemed too comfortable.

"Professor Snape assigned a five-paragraph essay on _Asphodel_ and _Wormwood_ of five, and I did it in five", Vicky was saying happily to the rest of the group as Alice and Rose tried to get William and Christopher's attention(successfully). "Demelza made it eight paragraphs!"

"Just to be sure," the girl interjected timidly. "You never know with Snape ..."

"On this, you're not wrong, Dem"

Ginny ran quickly through the dungeon, behind her classmates, being ignored by everyone: she had thus made a habit of disappearing each time her companions chatted peacefully and even lost the spirit of staying with them. It seemed that even the relationship between her and Colin was not the best ... and most probably the fault was only on Ginny: she had strayed _too far._

 _Damn her!_

She finally crossed the threshold of the cold Potions class and noticed that her place was occupied by a racket of junk, and short, brown hair: Rose Owen was at that moment sitting in her seat and throwing malevolent glances that sent sparks, while her _best friend_ , Alice Barlow, giggled and threw back the long coat of black hair.

Rose had _literally_ taken William.

Little Weasley's eyes glittered with tears of anger as she made her way quickly, to the back of the classroom (where Colin was emptying his bag), trying not to show that she's hurt.

When Ginny turned as she sniffed, she noticed William staring at her with an unreadable look on his face, but it was probably just the little girl imagining it. She had been easy to move away even from a cauldron mate, let alone if her presence was worth much in the group! Maybe he had done well to get away from them ...

She had never behaved like that, she had never been more depressed than that.

 _She was sure of herself_. But now? Now her safety was fading as she had come, and little Ginny Weasley had only to settle for a diary as a friend she could seriously trust: it was worth much more than people who easily forgot about her from one day to the next. and, in the case of William, they replaced it.

"Ooooh, are we comrades?" Colin asked delightedly. "I'm very pleased, I could not bear her by my side!"That girl was really treacherous to throw those snide remarks, don't you think? I think she's in love with Will, what do you say?"

"So it would seem" was Ginny's mechanical response.

"Yeah ... he's a good boy, William"

The girl seriously doubted that William was a good boy but did not comment on that funny statement, and devoted her full attention to her fingernails that looked a lot more interesting than the paper (which was very difficult to write on) and Snape.

The lesson of Potions passed, to Ginny's great relief, very quickly, and once the curfew clicked after dinner, all the Gryffindors crammed into their Common Room, where total chaos reigned: Fred and George were trying to catch the living salamanders who they had bred for their strange experiments, sowing panic among the girls who tended to converge to the arms of the Gryffindor boys at the speed of light. Rose seriously took advantage of that moment to throw herself into William's arms with her face contracted in what must have been a grimace of fear and disgust: did she really believe that Ginny cared about them? She did not like William, nor did he like her, and after what the boy had done to her in Potions class, for little Weasley, though he was still angry, William Todd did not even exist as a friend anymore.

As expected, Percy Weasley's voice could have been heard above the Astronomy Tower.

"I knew your brothers were cool!" exclaimed Colin approaching her when all the salamanders were put back in a cage. "Come with us, come on, Ginny, the snobby girls are not bothering us, come have a good time with us!"

"I have a headache," Ginny quickly lied.

She was also sick of always being invited to join them so compassionately: the first times she had accepted their invitations like a fool who needed company, now she will reject forever.

When Percy reached the height of hyperactivity because of Fred and George, Ginny quickly sneaked upstairs hoping with all her heart that the hubbub downstairs ended quickly because she did not want to talk to Tom Riddle with a headache and fall asleep with her head in the diary without answering: once it almost happened.

She used the bathroom calmly, stripping and putting on her pyjamas so slowly that it could take to the next day. When she reached her bed everything was quiet: even if it was only eight o'clock, and the other dorm girls were dozing. Ginny carefully took her diary from the pocket of her robe, closed the canopy curtains around her and began to write …

 _Dear Tom, as I was already explaining to you at dinner today, this day is not so different from the others._

 **We resend, how wonderful! Keep telling, please.**

 _It's a nightmare here, Tom. My brothers continue to make fun of me, and now it seems no one needs me. I have never had this paranoia but here the situation is difficult! The Slytherins do not stop looking down on me because I came to school with second-hand clothes ... I cannot stand them anymore!_

 **I can understand how difficult it is for you to be teased by your brothers, I can understand how difficult it is to be ignored and then make fun of second-hand clothes ... but how stupid? There are those who can come to school with new clothes and who's not, it's not a crime. I do not know how many people's minds work, dear friend, and I'll never know. A suggestion? React and reciprocate with the same galleon. It always works, Ginny.**

 _You say?_ wrote the girl excited by that answer and the fact that Tom Riddle had called her 'friend'.

 **If I say it, I can guarantee it! Trust me…**

 _Oh, nobody ever understood me like you, Tom. Really, I do not know how to thank you, you can always fix my days. I am so happy to have this diary to confide in, I am happy to have found it in my cauldron that day. It's like having a friend to always carry with me in your pocket._

 **Do you trust me, my friend?**

 _I trust you, my friend._

And then there was darkness, total darkness. As if someone had turned off all the lights of the little Ginny Weasley's brain, and it was like sinking into a dark tunnel without end ... it was like sinking into a real nightmare ...

Ginny opened her eyes and discovered that it was morning and she was in bed with all her clothes ... how strange!

She blinked and realized that she had an incredible headache, her legs were heavy, her bones were painful, she had ... a strange sensation in her body, which she could not explain.

There was nobody in the dorm.

What time was it? The clock was eight o'clock ... but eight o'clock in the morning! Ginny could not understand: it was not eight o'clock in the evening? it was eight o'clock in the evening, everything was dark out there and the sun was not there. It was night and she was talking to Tom Riddle about her day. And then ... and then she didn't know anything anymore. she had a hole in her memory and she could not remember anything, anything and absolutely nothing about what she had done.

But how the _hell_ was it possible? Was she losing her memory?

And, what were all those rooster feathers on her clothes?

She even realized she was shaking, trembling with fear ... because such a thing had never happened to her. She could not remember anything to even try. But the question that arose spontaneously was: _why?_

With his heart beating wildly, Ginny looked at herself in the mirror and noticed that she looked a bit 'gaunt. Touching her robe, she also noticed that she had Tom Riddle's diary in the pocket where she always put it... but had she not taken the robe off? Had she not put on her pyjamas? Was it even possible that she had dressed in her school clothes, left Gryffindor Tower and had those feathers sticking to her clothes?

Yes, it was possible and she did not remember it.

Ginny pulled her diary out of her pocket and, as Tom always had the answers, she thought that maybe she could be lucky this time. Opening the diary, she quickly dipped the quill in the ink and wrote on the second page.

 _Dear Tom, I think I'm losing my memory. I found rooster feathers suck all over my robes and I do not know how they got there... I have an incredible memory hole and I can not remember what I did last night. My heart beats so fast and I'm scared, Tom._

 **Good morning, Ginny ... how would you say you do not remember what you did last night?**

 _I'm worried, I do not remember anything!_

 **Calm down, relax and, above all, do not talk to anyone: a ruckus could happen if they find that you do not remember anything and your family might worry. You probably stumbled on some spell by mistake and do not remember it ... trust me, nothing will happen to you.**

She didn't know why, but those words comforted Ginny more than ever, giving her a deep sense of gratitude writing to this friend, but stopped because it was interrupted by a noise coming from the stairs. She scribbled: _I do not know how I would have done without you today, fear would probably have devoured me. We'll talk!_ "And quickly put the diary in the usual pocket.

There was a door slamming and Demelza entered the dorm looking around.

"Are you not coming for breakfast?" she chirped.

"Yes, I was ... just ..." the evasive girl answered, trying to remove the remaining feathers.

"Where were you last night? Vicky told me this morning, before she went to breakfast at the Hufflepuff table, that she saw you came to the dorm really late... "

"Why did Vicky go for breakfast at the Hufflepuff table?" Ginny quickly changed the subject.

"She has friends. You should have seen Rose and Alice's face ..." Demelza smiled. "I think they are now also trying to befriend the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw girls, I bet.

"Come on," said Ginny, who could not see any way out.

The two girls went down the spiral staircase and exited the portrait, they walked into the Great Hall: Ginny hoped with all her heart to have removed all the feathers and could not wait to end this day that certainly would be a mortifying nightmare.

October arrived quickly, and brought with it a blanket of damply cold and gloomy days, replacing the sunny and beautiful days of summer.

As the days wore on, Ginny realized that she felt weaker and weaker since she'd had that _little incident with the spell,_ but she convinced herself that it was most likely the flu: Madame Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse, had her business to cure that sort of epidemic making students drink her healing potion.

Ginny, who was always looking puzzled, was forced by Percy to drink a bit 'and could not get out of the infirmary all afternoon: the drink worked beautifully with the cold but left the ears steaming for many hours, and so the girl made a _beautiful figure_ in the presence of Harry Potter, who looked at her smiling, making her almost purple.

Perhaps she knew what's funny... she had red hair and the smoke that came out from under it made her look terribly like a particularly overheated teapot, and it was as if her head was on fire.

Fortunately, no Slytherin saw it!

There were days and days of incessant rain and now no one came out of the castle: the surface of the Great Lake had risen (Fred and George had revealed that the giant octopus was not shown in the rain but Ginny had not even seen one of her tentacles) and Hagrid's pumpkins have reached the size of the carriages for Halloween.

 _Halloween._

Ginny would have spent her Halloween along with the most boring and pompous guy on the planet, her brother Percy, and it did not bother her at all when she saw her House friends leave the Tower to join the crowd in the Great Hall. Except for Vicky Probisher, who thought it appropriate to spend his time with the new friends in Hufflepuff.

"You will see what the Great Hall will be like, little sister. And guess what, my _friend_ Penelope Clearwater will come to stay at the Gryffindor table. Do not be frightened if you see live bats and dancing skeletons, that's just the show Dumbledore put on."

"But will you be?" Ginny answered wearily.

Percy was already literally exasperating her.

"You're _amazing_ , Perce!" Fred commented suddenly from the spiral stairs followed by George.

"You look like your house elf ... of course she will not be afraid!"

"Mother would be proud of me to know that I take care of our sister!"

The twins laughed and Ginny's cheeks burned as she crossed the portrait hole. All the way to the Great Hall, Percy and the twins did nothing but fight and Ginny felt so weak and tired that she would even go to bed without eating or having fun: at that moment maybe she just needed to talk a bit with Tom Riddle.

Percy Weasley was right: the Great Hall was decorated beautifully.

Orange and black colours dominated the decorations, and swarms of bats were flying low, sniffing and snatching the food in students' golden plates with their little paws, which the Slytherins found rather annoying.

Ginny saw that Malfoy was swearing aloud as the small group consisting of who was certain was called Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson laughed out loud. At the next table, Vicky's blonde hair stood out among the Hufflepuffs and Ginny saw that the girl was already enjoying herself. At the Gryffindor table, in the meantime, even though Alice and Rose had each taken William and Christoper (her blonde-haired pride drew so many dark heads), they seemed to throw at Vicky looks of pure envy. Demelza almost sat alone because, although she usually spoke timidly, at that moment she was as estranged. Colin and Ritchie instead had a lot of fun and were continuously giggling.

When Ginny, along with Fred, George and Percy, passed them, she waved and Demelza smiled. But little Weasley did not sit next to them, instead taking her place next to her brothers, not far from the others, and started stuffing herself with sweets.

"I would not want a stomach ache, little sister," Percy interrupted when Ginny reached for the twentieth _Pumpkin Pasty_.

"They're good."

"I know, but mother..."

"Perce, you're not the mother!" said George amusedly through a mouthful of sweets.

"I would not be so sure, George ... I think Mum's spirit resides in him ..." said Fred. Ginny chuckled: at least there were the twins who made this fun.

"Let her eat, Percy," Penelope said gently, and Percy nodded vigorously.

"Oh, look!" Ginny pointed to the skeletons with her finger, letting the Pumpkin Pasty fall into the plate with a thud.

Skeletons began to walk between the tables, having fun passing food through their mouths and then picking it up in their ribcage, making all the students laugh. It was a really funny show, even if it was dreary: the skeletons played with their bones and pass food around everywhere, which Dumbledore found witty while Snape looked absolutely disgusted.

After the skeletons, there was another feast with real dishes and Ginny stuffed a bit of everything. Then when the situation degenerated (when Percy and the twins began to fight again), the girl took the excuse of needing the bathroom and slipped away from the party, running to break through the corridors and even hearing the Pumpkin Pasties grumbling in the stomach.

"The party is over?" asked the Fat Lady when he saw Ginny arrive.

"N-not yet"

"My friend Violet told me that the show was nice: oh how much I wanted to see it"

Ginny waited for the Lady to ask the fateful question.

"Oh, anyway ... password?"

" _Caput Draconis!_ "

The girl entered the Gryffindor Common Room, embarrassingly running into a couple passionately kissing on the sofa by the fire, and ran upstairs to her dorm to write to Tom Riddle.

 _Dear Tom, the Halloween party was really fun but being with my brother Percy was a bore._

 **Ginny, dear. Is the party over?**

 _Oh no, but I preferred to stay here in the dorm with you. You know, Harry Potter just did not show up at the party ... I was hoping so much that he and Ron and their friend were joining us (which is why I had agreed to stay with Percy and the twins) but they did not show up._

 **You always talk to me about Harry Potter.** Riddle wrote in a way that Ginny guessed he was having a suspicion about that boy **. Could it be that you like the famous Harry Potter?**

 _Tom, I cannot lie to you. I do like him and I like him so much!_

 **Is magnificent! I'm more than sure you'll make a fantastic couple.**

Ginny's heart pounded hard when he saw that statement written but immediately returned to reality.

 _Maybe, Tom ... but he ignores me, he doesn't even look at me. I'm just the little Weasley for him, the little sister of his best friend. It's heartbreaking, and you know what? I think I will never be able to please the great and the famous Harry Potter. You know how many nice girls would be courting him because he's the famous boy …_

 **You don't have to give up, Ginny! If he's worth fighting for, do it.**

The girl's heart filled with joy: she liked Harry Potter a lot, it was love at first sight from the station... maybe _it was love_. Why would she ever give up even if she was only eleven and did not understand much about those things? She didn't have to give up and Tom Riddle was right: it was worth fighting for.

 _How many things you do for me, Tom. Thank you so much, you are special._ Ginny wrote and a sharp pain ran through her body, vanishing so quickly that the girl almost did not notice.

 **We are friends. And you must trust me.**

 _Always._

Ginny Weasley was lying on a cold floor, so cold that her right cheek could have been a particularly soft and warped piece of ice. She opened her eyes and realized that she was in the corridor on the second floor ... but why was she there? She got up quickly before anyone came and saw her on the ground, and noticed that her hands were all stained with red paint. And not just her hands, even her clothes.

She remembered nothing: what was she doing? What had she done that Halloween night?

She trembled uncontrollably and drew deep breaths because she missed the air.

There were voices echoing in the corridor and Ginny, with a trembling step, turned the corner and faced a scary scene: all the students of the various houses were crammed in the corridor, some flattened against the walls, some pushing to see better. See better what? Ginny was also curious, and passing under the student's arms reached Percy, who looked at her severely.

The girl's eyes went all the way down the corridor, then they stopped on something that glistened on the wall, written in huge, red letters:

 **THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED,**

 **ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.**

 _It was written in red …_

There was a puddle on the ground, not far from the writing and above the pool of water was a cat hanging from its tail by the arm of a torch. She was stiff, and her eyes were glassy and wide open, staring into space.

"P-Percy ... c-what's happening?"

"But where the hell were you?" he snapped in a hoarse voice.

"I told you I ... I was in the bathroom ..." Ginny lied uncertainly because she didn't really know where she had been because she did not remember anything. "But what's s-happened here? W-what's that wr-written? And the g-cat ..."

"Anything!"

Ginny, not satisfied with that answer, approached Demelza Robins, whose eyes were wide open with terror, like everyone else. Wherever he turned, he could see scared faces or confused faces. Ginny's was, of course, confused ... not to mention the fact that she had lost her memory again.

"Demelza, but what ...?"

"FIRST YEAR, FIRST YEAR!" Percy's voice echoed in the corridor. "FOLLOW ME, NOW!"

"The Heir of Slytherin has petrified the Filch's cat" Demelza explained in a low voice while all the children of the first year followed their Prefect. "The story of the Chamber of Secrets ... is happening again!"

"What is the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I can not explain it to you now ..."

"And why was the Filch's cat petrified?"

"We do not know ... They accused Harry Potter, your brother and their friend ... they took them away ..."

"WHAT?" Ginny screamed and her voice made Percy turn to look at her with eyes narrowed in two slits.

"I'm sorry, it's stupid to blame them ..." muttered Demelza compassionately.

Ginny did not answer, she could not understand: the message was written with red paint and she was all dirty with red paint ... could the assailant be so close to her? Maybe the attackers had imposed on her a memory spell?

Yes, it was possible.

Ron, Harry and Hermione were not Slytherin but they were not present at the Halloween party. And when Ginny had lost her memory for the first time, she was in her dorm and only a Gryffindor could know their password ...

She couldn't believe it, yet it seemed so true.

Ginny climbed the spiral staircase, ignoring the frightened mutterings and immediately slipped into bed without being told anything by Demelza because she did not want to know anything at all: that had really been a scary Halloween.

* * *

 ** _Ok well, that's it. Tom just got more powerful. The story might be a bit rusty but its still the gits of how everything happens._**

 ** _Editor: Helena Haansilton_**

 ** _Original Link:_** ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371_**


	6. Days seem like Nightmares

_**Heya, I'm back! gotta post a little bit slower than the beginning because on the 15 and 17 I have Bio and Chem GCSE. This is tiring so anyway here is the next chapter!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, the writing belongs to EmPotter and the characters and plot to JK Rowling, I am just a translator.**_

 _ **Original Link:**_ ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371_**

* * *

 **Days feel like nightmares**

When Ginny Weasley opened her eyes the next morning, she was dripping with sweat.

Although it was October and it was really very cold, the kid's forehead was as if it's drenched in soup. Her hair had stuck on her freckled face and, amazingly, anyone that tried squeezing the pillow would get plenty of water out of it. Ginny wiped herself with the sheets and spied through the curtains: Demelza was looking carefully around the room as if she expected to find an assailant in her dorm.

Little Weasley was confused ...

She had a nightmare that night, a nightmare of black shadows and his brother Ron, Harry and Hermione trying to attack Mrs Norris. She remembered she had never been closer to them than she had been in that dream when Ron was covering her mouth as she struggled frantically.

 _Without her we are all better, get out of the way!_ Ron, somehow with red and evil eyes, was shouting in the dream.

Ginny couldn't understand anything and struggled to remember what she was doing on Halloween night, but nothing came.

Was is really three who attacked the cat? If so, why at all? What did _she_ have to do with that story and why she did not remember anything that time too? And finally what was the _Chamber of Secrets_?

She seemed to know that name already, maybe Bill had mentioned it, but she was not sure...

The girl quickly got ready, while Demelza put her stuff in place and stared at her in fright: had she been screaming that night? In her dream, she screamed so much, that her screams might have been heard in the dormitory? Ginny wondered whether she had been crazy in the blankets and had scared them all, or had done anything that might have disturbed their sleep.

"How are you?" Demelza asked, staring at her.

Ginny forced herself to smile. "Good"

"I ... I'm glad"

"Me too"

The cat's screeches still echoed in her mind, and a strange sense of despair ran through her body: what would happen to her now? Whoever was it that did this to the cat? She contemplated Mrs Morris' fate the whole while when preparing for her lessons, then hurriedly went down into the Common Room to face Ron and Harry, and her heart jumped hard in her rib cage.

"What's in that bag, Harry? My does not weigh so much and .. _. hey, Ginny_!" exclaimed Ron.

Ginny approached her brother frightened, but he seemed the same as always.

"Are you okay? You're so pale"

"Unlike the cat, I'm fine ..." Ginny heard herself replying in a lugubrious tone, plumping her hands into her lap, and the two boys exchanged a worried look. "I ... why did they attack her and what will happen to her now?"

"Madam Pomfrey will take care of her, you'll see," Harry said reassuringly.

When Ginny did not blush and remained the same pale colour as Harry spoke to her, Ron sensed the weight of the situation.

"But you did not even know Mrs. Norris," he said to cheer her up, glancing over her shoulder: it seemed that Hermione was looking at the conversation behind the girl. "I assure you, without Mrs Norris, we are all much better"

Ginny's lips quivered: it was the same thing Ron had said in the dream.

"This kind of things does not often happen at Hogwarts," his brother continued to reassure her as the bushy-haired girl sat on the arm of Harry's chair, watching his best friend's little sister. "They'll catch the madman that attacked her, and get him thrown out in the blink of an eye, you'll see. I just hope that before being expelled, they'll petrify Filch too"

And he smiled encouragingly but Ginny blanched and Hermione looked at him as if to scold him about the lack of tact.

"I'm kidding ..." he added quickly.

After that statement, the girl told herself that maybe it was better for her to get away from the three, and sneaked away from them almost running, but without making too much the guilty face of those who are happy to leave the scene. She walked through the seventh-floor corridor amid frightened murmurs, and wherever the story of the cat's and the Chamber of Secrets was going, it was on the lips of all the students, and in the following days, nothing else was said.

After that statement, the girl told herself that maybe it was better for her to get away from the trio and sneaked away from them, almost running but without making too much of the guilty go to her face for she was too happy to leave the scene. She walked through the seventh-floor corridor amid frightened murmurs, and wherever stories of the cat and the Chamber of Secrets was going around. It was on the lips of every student, for the few following days nothing else was talked about.

Filch was even worse than the students: a few days after the attack, Ginny saw him patrolling the corridor where the attack Mrs Norris had taken place and was working with the _Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover_ on her own red writing, but the letters did not want to go away. Filch lost his temper, accusing every student of breathing too loudly or being too happy.

Ginny thought back to Tom Riddle's words after she told him about the attack...

 _Dear Tom. I do not remember what I did on the night of Halloween but a cat was attacked and I find myself all dirty with paint_ ... she had written when her dorm mates began to sleep _. I do not know if it is appropriate to talk about it with someone but I'm very worried about this. They accused my brother, Harry Potter and their friend because they were at the scene and I do not know what to think of them ... maybe they are the attackers!_

 **Dear Ginny, try to calm down. Are you sure they are the attackers?** Tom Riddle had asked.

 _I'm not sure but I didn't see them at the Halloween party, and they were on the second floor. I cannot believe that my brother, his friend and the boy I like are guilty... I'm having the worst nightmares and I do not remember anything yet. I'm desperate, Tom!_

 **Calm down, nothing will happen to you. You do not have to talk about it with anyone, for any reason in the world, understand? They have no evidence against your brother and his friends and could blame you for finding yourself alone amid these events. Do not talk to anyone and nothing will happen to you.**

So the girl had followed his advice, that is, not to talk to anyone about the fact that she had lost her memory in strange circumstances, because Tom Riddle was right: they could have suspected her.

Every day seemed like a nightmare here at Hogwarts and Ginny still could not believe how all this was happening. Her brothers were unaware that Ron had anything to do with that horrible story of the attack and the writing. Sometimes the little girl stopped to think about why she had done it but just could not find any.

 _We are all better without her_... resounded in his ears.

That morning, while Ginny hurried to reach the Herbology greenhouse in a weeping crisis, she had the misfortune of running into Percy Weasley, who, without even saying hello, looked at her in search of some illness before squatting in front of her sister to be at her height. Drying her tears, he said:

"Is there something wrong? You're pale, and I see you cry so often these days"

"Ron ... he and Harry ... and Hermione ... will be expelled ..."

"What?"

"They will be expelled for that business ... the cat ... the poor Mrs Norris ..."

"BUT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING?" Percy roared in rage. "Oh, please," he added in a slightly softer tone as if he wanted to repair the damage of his sudden outbreak. "Ron and his friends have nothing to do with Filch's cat or the history of the Cham... in short, have nothing to worry about, understand? There was a real misunderstanding and Dumbledore will discover the truth!"

"They were there ... not at the banquet ... and I ..." she stopped suddenly. "They will be expelled ..."

"Now stop!" snapped his angry brother, with a scared frown. "I'm going to write to Mom right away, I'm sorry, I'm a Prefect!" he added to a group of young girls trying to sneak into the second-floor hallway and pointed to his shining brooch. "You should be in class, in the name of Merlin, do not be found anymore ..."

Ginny sighed and hurried away.

Herbology class, together with the Hufflepuffs, could not have been more boring, because nobody, _really nobody_ , seemed to want to talk a lot. Even Professor Sprout noticed it because she continued to look worried at the class, and twenty minutes before the end of the lesson she stopped and looked at them all one by one.

"What's wrong with you today?" She declared, "You have to pay attention to me,"

Colin raised his hand and Professor Sprout motioned for him to speak.

"We're confused, Professor. It's not fair that the first years should not know anything about the Chamber of Secrets and the things that are happening here at Hogwarts, don't you think so, Professor?" he asked quickly and the class that was literally dozing rose to the boy's only words.

"The history of the Chamber of Secrets is just a legend… Where were we, yes, these plants ..."

"A legend that happened on Halloween night," interrupted a pretty Hufflepuff girl named Johanna Roberts, who had blue eyes and thick, curly blonde hair, "It can't be a legend, then!"

"Professor, could you just tell us about it?" urged Christopher Jones excitedly, looking sideways at Colin, who turned his attention from talking on his side to the rest of the class as fast as lightning.

"Yeah, we should know!" Vicky added energetically.

Ginny was sure that Professor Sprout was thinking quickly.

"Well then ... you all know that Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years ago by the most famous wizards and witches, right? Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin". In the greenhouse, you could have heard drop a pin as everyone paid more attention than they ever lent to a real lesson. "For a few years, the four founders worked together in harmony, but gradually, disagreements arose between them.

Salazar Slytherin wanted to be more selective about students who are admitted to Hogwarts: he was convinced that magical knowledge should be kept in families of wizards, in other words, the _Purebloods_. A serious quarrel broke out between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and Slytherin left the school"

Ginny was so focused that she did not realize she was about to crush her seedlings.

"Now according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden Chamber in the school, known as the Chamber of Secrets, and shortly before his departure he sealed it in anticipation of the day when his true heir would come to school, open the Chamber, unleash the horrors that were enclosed and use it to purge the school from all those who were unworthy to study magic "

"The children of Muggles" concluded Demelza Robins in a whisper.

"Do not worry, this is all absolute _nonsense_!" blurted Professor Sprout, turning red like a pepper, and the patched hat fell from her head. "There is no Chamber of Secrets and no monster ..."

" _Monster_?" Alice squeaked.

Ginny winced.

"There is nothing! Professor Dumbledore is a great wizard and he couldn't find any Chamber of Secrets!"

"But on Halloween ..." began Vicky Probisher with a glance.

"Whatever happened on Halloween was just a bad joke"

"But if the Chamber of Secrets can only be opened by _Slytherin's Heir_ it is obvious that no one else would be able to find it!" Christopher objected as Ginny stared at Professor Sprout, more confused than ever.

"Nonsense! Nothing exists ... it's a myth ... _the bell_!" she said relieved.

Ginny gathered her things among murmuring students: everyone had a say on the Chamber of Secrets. Everyone seemed to want to express their opinion, all except Colin Creevey who hopped from one side of the Greenhouse to the other, to hear the opinions of all his friends, since he, being the son of Muggles, did not really know anything about that story.

The subject 'Chamber of Secrets' accompanied the first years to the corridor on the first floor: Ginny had no desire to tell her opinion since she did not really know what to think ... because _she had something to do with it_ , even if indirectly.

"... Harry Potter was at the scene of the crime," Christopher was saying to the Gryffindor class stood in a circle, "and nobody knows what happened the night he was attacked by You-Know-Who. You know what I'm saying? I think he's the Slytherin's Heir!"

"Impossible!" Demelza declared as Colin hanged open his stupefied mouth.

"Harry Potter is not the Slytherin Heir!" snapped Johanna Roberts.

Ginny could no longer feel anything because she was so small in size, that she could not counteract the huge flow of people, much bigger and stronger than her, pushing her toward the Great Hall.

The days passed and the upcoming Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin seemed to eclipse the Chamber of Secrets story, and for the first time, no students, fortunately for teachers, named the story again. The memory, however, still kept Ginny awake, and she continued to cry desperately: she wanted to understand _why_ she had lost her memory, she wanted to understand whether his brother, Harry Potter and Hermione really were able to erase the memory to do the wrongdoing, and she wanted to understand what would have pushed those three to make such a disgusting gesture.

There was no doubt about who the attackers were... Christopher Jones was right: Harry Potter is the Slytherin's heir and he had dragged Ron and Hermione into that Chamber of Secrets business.

But who did she fall in love with, Ginny Weasley? With a monster?

Yet her heart continued to deny evidence ...

"GINNY!" Percy's voice woke Ginny from her thoughts, just minutes before the game, in the empty Gryffindor Common Room, but it was too late to wipe away the tears. "But ... but ... _oh my goodness_!"

The girl remained silent, sniffling.

"It's not that story again!" exclaimed Percy exasperated.

"W-w-why did they have h-h-hurt the c-cat ..."

Percy pulled her hand and hugged her, quite impatiently.

"You must not think for a moment that our brother had been the attacker!" he retorted trying to contain his anger. "They wouldn't have touched a single hair of hers, okay?"

 _Easy for Percy, he had not lost his memory,_ Ginny thought, sobbing.

"Listen, come to the game with me, we'll have fun!"

"N-no ... I have to d-d-do my homework ..." the girl lied in tears.

Percy did not want to let her go but finally gave up and walked through the portrait hole in a hurry.

Ginny snorted. "Now he will write to his mother..."

It seemed like hours had passed, and in fact, the students had arrived back from the game joyfully only after an hour or two (the girl noticed that Gryffindor must have won).

As it darkened the Common Room began to empty itself again, while the last students also left, a familiar voice called her from a distance.

"Ginny! Hey, Ginny!"

Little Weasley looked up from her Transfiguration essay and saw Colin Creevey running towards her with the air of someone wanting to tell a particularly long story. He warmly her with questions like 'Are you okay?' or even 'How are you?' or 'All right?', then sat down in the empty chair next to her and stared at her.

"You did not come to the game, I was sorry, you missed a beautiful Lockhart scene!"

Ginny smiled. "What scene?"

And so Colin threw himself into a long story of what had happened to the game: he talked about the Bulger full of mischief, trying to dislodge Harry at all costs, talked about the fact that he and Malfoy almost a kind of battle in air to catch the Golden Snitch, how Harry had won but as a cost had broken all the bones in his arm, and that Lockhart tried to fix the bones in the boy's arm but ended up making them completely disappear. He even showed her a picture of Harry, where he covered his face and a kind of rubber arm lies in his lap.

"In short, I'm going to visit him... now he's in the infirmary," Colin said seriously.

"Ooh, I do not think you can! Look, it's already past curfew," Ginny cautioned.

"I'll go by, and I'd be happier if you would come with me. I promise we won't do anything wrong"

Ginny was almost moved: she had to admit that she had not been spending her time with Colin. But that evening, she almost didn't want to go away from him, since he was the only one to cheer her up (except of course Tom Riddle), but ...

"No, I'll wait for you here"

Colin did not easily give up but finally nodded exhaustedly and walked through the portrait hole alone, while Ginny chased her diary out of her robe, now that the Common Room was completely empty.

 _Dear Tom, I spent my day crying today. As usual, though._

 **Dear Ginny, how are you telling me this? Talk to me about it.**

Ginny told of her day, and how the Chamber of Secrets event was constantly influencing her mood. Tom Riddle was very understanding and gave her all sorts of advice that she would not have to cry anymore because now she was strong.

The girl, relieved, also told him about Colin Creevey, and that they had spent their time together the first time in a while, and that she had really missed it while she was constantly alone or accompanied by some of her brothers.

 _He's very spontaneous, but I heard him say he does not believe what Christopher said about Harry Potter being the Slytherin's Heir. I don't know what to think ... I look a little like Colin, only he's a Muggle's son._

 **Is your friend a muggle-born?**

 _Oh yes. His father is a milkman you know, I think it's a job that has to do with milk ..._

And then the darkness and silence …

"FOR THE LOVE OF HEAVEN, LITTLE MISS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

A shrieking voice reached Ginny's ears and the girl jumped, looking around: she was outside the picture of the Fat Lady and ... again that feeling! She can't remember anything, no matter how hard she tried.

What the hell was she doing there? Why was she out? How had she come here?

Her head seemed to be like her hair: _in flames._

"These first-year students… more curious than anyone!" the Fat Lady shouted. "If a professor sees you, you're in trouble... you know what happens to curious ones, do you not? Maybe some of the rules escape you in the first year ..."

Ginny let her talk, still looking around, then went through the hole in the portrait with a gap in the stomach that could not mean anything good: for sure, something terrible had happened.

* * *

 ** _So that, ikkle firsties is the chapter. Hope you liked it, again updates might be a bit slow, you know with the GCSEs and all._**

 ** _Original Link: ?action=printall &sid=1166371_**

 ** _Editor: Helena Heansilton_**


	7. Mysterious Discoveries

_**sooo, I am not going to publish real fast but I do promise to publish once a week minimum, so guys here s the next chapter hope you enjoy it.**_

 _ **Editor: Helena Heansilton**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own aything, i only translate people**_

 _ **Original link:**_ ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371_**

* * *

 **Mysterious Discoveries**

Saturday and Sunday were quite strange for Ginny, because she seemed to have lost her memory again, and found herself outside the portrait hole without remembering having moved a foot. They were off on Saturday and Sunday, and Ginny anxiously waited to find out from Colin what had happened in the infirmary when he went to visit Harry, but she did not find him around.

Was it possible that he was spying on Harry Potter?

The girl, however, couldn't leave it at that: always, when she loses her memory something bad happens, and this time it couldn't have been different... why hasn't anyone noticed anything? Why did no one find anything strange yet?

Ginny saw Harry, getting sent away from the Infirmary after a whispered conversation with Madam Pomfrey's, Ron and Hermione. This did not put her in a good mood, indeed, maybe something _really_ _had_ happened that she ignored, that everyone ignored…

In those nights, little Weasley had other terrible nightmares: shadows that forced her into doing terrible things always permeated her dreams, and every time she would wake up drenched in sweat. Ginny could have sworn she saw Demelza and Vicky whispering to each other while she had these nightmares, and she was probably terribly screaming in her sleep.

On Monday morning, the girl was preparing herself as usual, with Demelza in the dormitory that was silent except for the talkative Alice and Rose, who seemed to Ginny as radiating with happiness and a mood for gossip.

"... and then I asked him if he could come for a walk with me in the castle!"

"Did you ask William _this_?"

"Yup!" Rose answered, turning purple. "And he said 'maybe' ... let alone! It seems obvious to me that he was too shy to say that he wanted to come with me, don't you think?"

"Absolutely"

Ginny grimaced at this in disgust. As she slipped on her shoes the dormitory door violently flew open, with such force that if Demelza had moved an inch closer she would have been shoved into the window of the room, which was so thin. Vicky was breathless and her eyes were shining with tears, which brought beads of sweat to little Ginny.

"Co ... Colin Creevey ... was ... he was found petrified ... lying out cold in the infirmary ..."

Ginny almost had a heart attack: her worst fears have been materialized.

The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked by the Slytherin monster, and was lying petrified in the castle infirmary was now in the public domain.

Ginny was desperate, she could not understand …

That's why Harry, Ron and Hermione talked to each other on Saturday morning! They could have warned her but instead ... they didn't. Ginny had found out that her friend had been attacked by them through Vicky, who had heard them talking to the teachers. Now it seemed so obvious that Colin was attacked: he had been missing since the day he had decided to visit Harry in the infirmary, and obviously, Ron and Hermione were there to be next to their friend. Colin must have somehow bothered them and ... Ginny could not believe that her brother and the others had really done that! But everything fits, everything went against her heart…

The relationship between her and Colin was just adjusting and warming, which no longer seem possible to her now that he's gone.

It was with an oppressed heart that she went through the lessons that day, and during the Charms class she did nothing but look at the empty seat next to her, where her partner used to chat away noisily telling what he thought incredible stories.

Professor Flitwick tried more than anything else to cheer the children's spirits but his eyes were bright and saw that the air too sad to do anything: perhaps he had witnessed Professor Dumbledore owling Colin's parents... _what a nightmare_!

Another nightmare was the twins, who as soon as they saw her alone, with the intent of raising her spirits, covered themselves with fur or bubbles and suddenly appeared in front of her from behind statues and armour and continued throughout the day. Ginny had a strong desire to join her first-year companions, who did not go around unless they were in groups of more than four or five, but she did not feel like it. She considered herself almost a stranger without Colin Creevey ...

" _Boo_!" exclaimed a hairy thing.

Ginny, who was lost in thought, jumped in fright and her eyes widened in fear.

"What fun!" George said in a laughter that seemed rather fake.

"Come on, sis, don't you find me funny?" Fred urged, but what the twins did was not much help.

In fear, the little girl's heart jumped to her throat.

"ARE YOU IDIOTS?" Percy shrieked from the other end of the corridor as some second years walked and looked at the twins as if they were both mad. "WITH THIS AGAIN?"

"Oh ... Perce, we can explain!" Fred said with a note of urgency in his voice.

"You can not explain anything to me!"

"Actually yes!"

"You know why we're doing all this," George added.

Ginny had an incredible headache.

" _Aaaaah_ , still with that story of cheering her up ... look at her, look at our sister, she just got a scare with all these stories that are circulating around! She has nightmares and you make jokes to scare her and..."

"...we just wanted to get her to smile!" he railed in anger as Ron, Harry and Hermione watched the scene paralyzed.

"Oh, what a way to make a person laugh," Percy said contemptuously, putting a hand through his hair in exasperation. "I warn you, if you're caught again trying to scare Ginny I WILL write to our mother and then you are on your own!"

"Are you threatening us?" asked George angrily.

"Yes, I am!" Percy replied and turned away with his nose in the air, and striding toward who knows which corridor.

Ginny actually very much appreciated the twins, who until then had done nothing but tease her, hearing them say that they just wanted to see her smile really meant a lot. She also appreciated Percy - even if sometimes he seemed too exaggerated - but _screaming in public_ that she had nightmares? He was certainly crazy too! Moreover, Ron, Harry and Hermione were there listening to everything, and he was screaming about her nightmares, which were certainly flaunted by Demelza and Vicky, because they, more than once, have been woken up for that reason.

Fred and George looked at Ginny sadly and she returned them the same look before she too went away with the afflicted air.

"Oh, it's terrible to be without Colin ..." Vicky murmured with a tearful voice to Ginny and Demelza, while they were sitting on a sofa by the fire on a Monday in December. Ginny and the twins had given their names to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas since the three had no desire to see Bill in Egypt kissing his new girlfriend. They were sitting on a sofa by the fire eating sweets that the twins, with so much kindness, had given to Ginny and that she, just as thoughtfully, had shared with her companions. "When I heard Flitwick tell Sprout, my blood was frozen in my veins. Do you think Harry Potter has something to do with it?"

"I do not think so ... he seems like a good boy," replied Demelza thoughtfully.

"Yeah, what do you think, Ginny, do you know him well?"

"Yes ... he's a good boy," the girl replied, having no idea what to say.

"Eloise Midgen's the crazy girl- Hufflepuff's pimply girl, you know? - just bought a talisman today," the blonde informed her with a chuckle. "Unbeknownst to the professors, among us students there is a business of talismans, amulets and green onions ..."

Demelza burst out laughing and Ginny opened with a sincere smile.

Eloise Midgen was in their Herbology class and she's a fat girl, short-haired and frizzy, a little silly and remembered for the large number of pimples that filled her chubby face. _Eloise_ _had bought an amulet?_

"Grace wanted to imitate her and bought a horrendous purple amulet ... then threw it into the trash because two first-year Ravenclaws - Annie Gray and Elisabeth Harries - were laughing at her!" the informed girl continued. "Do you believe that those onions and amulets work?"

" _Come on_!" Demelza said with a smile. "Did you not say that Eloise was a little stupid girl?"

"She also looks like she has a crush on Harry Potter ... uh, no ... that's Johanna, she and Moaning Myrtille could open a _fan club_ for that guy," Vicky said, bursting into laughter.

"Who is Moaning Myrtille?" Ginny asked in spite of himself.

"The ghost of a girl who lives in the bathroom on the second floor ... oh, and how exasperating she is!"

And so Vicky launched into a detailed description of the whining ghost named Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, and what a description! Every sad and negative appellation was part of the nature of that phantom girl, with a face full of pimples, thick round glasses and smooth black hair like spaghetti. Moaning Myrtille could be more _malcontent_ than Ginny? They should have made friends, in fact, thinking about it, Ginny would have gladly taken a look in that bathroom.

Getting up and finding an excuse to justify her absence, little Weasley walked quickly to the second-floor bathroom, being careful not to look at the horrible writing that she still did not want to know about taking off. She opened the door cautiously and quickly slipped inside.

From what Vicky had said, the bathroom was always empty because of Moaning Myrtle, and Ginny couldn't blame the girls who were going somewhere else, since that bathroom was soaked with water, like on the night of the attack on Mrs Norris. The image that dominated the scene was the famous moaning ghost of a girl who leavened on the siphon, with teary opaque eyes.

"Myrtle is whining ... Myrtle is sad ..."

Ginny came closer and closer.

"Myrtle is ... oh, and who are you?"

"Gi-Ginny Weasley, hi" the girl replied.

"Ooooh, I've never heard of you, you know?"

"Well I've heard of you"

"Imagine what they will have told you! OWN IMAGE!" shrieked Moaning Myrtle, and with an incredible howl she threw herself headlong into a toilet and disappeared from sight.

Yes, that was much more than Ginny's malcontent could have been, but she was sure she and Myrtle would become great friends.

Some time passed, and Ginny took a while to walk around the ghost's bathroom, noting a few remnants of _Knotgrass_ and little traces of _Boomslang skin_ that Snape had so often talked about in Potions- ingredients that could only be found in his personal stock, which some students have certainly stolen. Then, she heard familiar voices coming from outside and hid quickly in one of the cubicles.

"Come on Hermione, don't be paranoid! You said that nobody comes in here ..."

It was Ron's voice. Ginny clung to the door handle like a lifeline: she was there and the three suspects were just entering ... she's right there and could be hearing their plans.

"Look, it's not my fault if I'm worried!" blurted Hermione angrily. "The Slytherin monster is already starting to attack the Muggle-borns, first it's Colin Canon, and I could be next..."

"Do not even say it as a joke, Hermione! We'll find the Heir, you'll see," Harry assured her.

Cold tears ran down Ginny's freckled cheeks, the girl was ashamed of herself: it's not the three of them… it had not been them. How could she have even thought for a moment that his brother had something to do with it? _What a shame_! Percy was right, Demelza and Vicky were right... Harry Potter couldn't be the Slytherin's Heir, and his friends weren't anything either.

How could Harry attack Hermione when together they were on the trail of the Heir?

She thought that she would never look them in the face for the horrible things she had thought of them... she wonders whether they would forgive her. Maybe not ... but then, who was the Slytherin's heir? Who was it that had indirectly attacked even Ginny, taking away her memory? Who the hell was doing this without leaving a clue?

"Listen!" Hermione's voice sounded worried.

"Was there another attack?" Harry asked.

"No, listen... I'm serious, let's get out of here, now!" Ron added, and the three snuck out of Myrtle's bathroom.

Ginny stepped out of the cubicle and followed them closely: a great deal of people were spilling out of the corridor on the second floor running like hell, as if they can't wait to get somewhere. Her heart turned somersaults. Had there been another attack occurred? It could not be, they all seemed excited. So, had they discovered who the Slytherin Heir was? Had they caught the Heir hands in the bag?

The girl happily girl joined the thrilling crowd, but was first stopped by Demelza Robins.

"Where were you?" she asked almost screaming, because you could not hear anything because of the students' chatter.

"But what's going on here? Did they get Slytherin's heir or something?" Ginny changed the subject.

"Oh no, maybe! They just made the Dueling Club ... coming with me?"

Ginny looked at her with a raised eyebrow: a Club of Duelists? Did they really believe that they could fight the Slytherin monster? But anyway, a couple of spells could always be useful.

She accepted.

 _Dear Tom, today has been such an eventful day._

 **Hey dear. What happened?**

 _Apart from the fact that I miss my friend Colin so much and I can't wait for the Mandrake potion to be ready, I discovered that it was not Harry, my brother and their friend who attacked him. Is not it fantastic?_

 **What makes you think so?**

 _I am ashamed of myself for even having thought about those things about the three, I heard them talking: Harry Potter is on the trail of Slytherin's heir and says he wouldn't rest until the heir is caught, especially if his friend might be assaulted. He is a hero, he is not a villain! Although ... after today's event everyone believes in the contrary. You know, Harry talks to snakes..._

 **Harry Potter is a Parseltongue?**

 _Talk to the snakes_ , Ginny wrote again for she did not know what Parseltongue meant, and looked at Demelza's watch on her bedside table for a moment: it was only five o'clock. _He made such a scene today at the Dueling Club, and you know why? It seems that he has aroused the snake against a boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley but... he couldn't have been trying to do that! If you are discovering the mystery how can you do such a thing? It is only found in the middle like Halloween. However, Justin, a Muggleborn, has ran away. I heard he hid in the Hufflepuff common room because he's scared ..._

 **Is this boy a Muggleborn?**

 _Yes, Tom._

Ginny Weasley then found herself standing in the dark ... with the feeling that had haunted her for months: she did not remember anything.

Why was she there? What the hell was happening?

She looked at her wristwatch and felt the blood freezing in his veins: it was eight o'clock. But if he had just looked at Demelza's watch and it was five o'clock, how could it be eight? She had empty pockets of memory in which there were nothing, neither what she had done nor how she had reached that place. She only had countless questions, and being there in the dark made her even closer to being scared to death.

Surely someone had been attacked ... certainly, something had happened ...

She walked blindly down the corridor and stumbled over something stiff and cold. He looked better and noticed that this was Justin Finch-Fletchley: the boy he had seen at the Club was petrified like a stockfish and next to him floated in the dark, steaming, Almost- Headless- Nick, Gryffindor ghost.

Ginny turned her head and felt sick.

She heard a noise that made her hide behind a statue, and Harry Potter, who was passing by, stumbled on Justin just as she had done ... without having the slightest idea that Justin was there on the ground, and looked terribly scared just like the girl had been.

He wasn't the one attacking people, and that was the confirmation!

Little Weasley was thinking quickly: she was talking to Tom Riddle and then... wait because she was talking to Tom, she could not remember anything, and something very bad happened? She realized she was shaking and it was not because of the cold ...

It was only when Peeves came shouting loudly that she decided to run away from there.

* * *

 ** _Next: The suspects and Ginny's Valentine_**

 ** _Ok guys, please do leave a review and recommend us to your friends!_**

 ** _~Ermory~_**


	8. The suspects and Ginny's Valentine

_**Ok guys here is the brand new chapter.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own anything , everything belongs to JK Rowling and the writer is EmPotter I just translate**_

 _ **Original Link:**_ ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371_**

* * *

 **The suspects and Ginny's Valentine**

 _Dear Tom Riddle_ ... wrote the girl deep in the cover of her dormitory.

She could not believe that a diary had something to do with that story of the Chamber of Secrets, with Slytherin's Heir. It was after all just a stupid small possession of her own, but everything unknowingly falls into place. Hadn't she been talking to Tom Riddle every time her memory escaped her? Hadn't she always ended up in a place without knowing how she got there? It was an idea too strange, but Ginny had to admit to herself, that she suspected her _friend_ Tom.

 **Hi Ginny, I was just thinking of you.**

Did a diary think? How many other things would she have to endure from this, the poor girl? Not knowing what the hell was sensible to write, she simply scribbled down the first things that came to mind.

 _Really?_

 **Oh yes, how are you?**

 _Not well. Today there was another assault and I found myself next to Justin's body, the guy from the club I was telling you about ... it's weird, don't you think so? I talk to you and then I lose my memory and assaults happen ..._

 **If you want to know, I do not find anything strange at all.**

He seemed cold, detached ... while Ginny's eyes widened with surprise at the fact that he had confessed what she feared most in the world. She no longer knew what to answer but Tom Riddle did something he had never done in all those time before.

 **Anyway, I thought of you today. I wondered if you'd like to share some of my secrets.**

The girl trembled even more: what the hell did that mean? What did it mean to share some of his secrets? It was usually Ginny who confessed all her secrets, Tom Riddle was a diary, a diary had no secrets, right? Or no... was Tom Riddle really just a diary? That business was becoming dangerous.

 _Yes, I would like it_. she answered to see what will happen.

 **I was at Hogwarts too, in Slytherin's house.**

 _Are you a ghost?_

 **A memory kept in a diary for fifty years. My father was a Muggle and my mother was a witch, heir to Salazar Slytherin. My mother died a few hours after giving birth to me, after giving me my father's name. When she died, I was left in a muggle orphanage. I lived there until I was eleven, then Albus Dumbledore came to visit and told me that I could attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was very happy, but I already knew that I was special: I could move objects without touching them, I made animals do what I wanted without training them, and I could hurt whoever that tried to hurt me. I loved collecting treasures, you know? Little souvenirs- everything of value, or at least had value to me, like a medallion ... or a ring ...fascinating things, aren't they?**

Ginny kept reading his story, and with every single word she read she was feeling increasingly sick. Her head was spinning and had a nauseating feeling, and almost had no strength to continue holding the diary in her hand.

She was weak.

 **I was a gifted wizard, a model student. Very different from you, in fact ... I was surrounded by a people but loved acting alone. I did not need anyone's opinion, I did not need anyone's help …**

Tom Riddle went on, on and on talking about himself, talking about "his secrets". By the end of the story, Ginny was very sick and did not even know why. She could not understand why she's been told that story and did not want to know anything more: she closed the diary with a sharp blow and rushed out of the Gryffindor Tower, hiding from the students passing through the corridors. Many times she stumbled, many more times she had to lean against the walls clutching her chest before being able to continue… _but why_?

A part of her was terrified by that situation, the other seemed to enjoy it ... a feeling too strange to be described, too strange to be explained to the sane: she had the impression of not being her sometimes.

She reached the Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and locked herself in, thanking God that the ghost was not there. She began trying to work her mind, not knowing what to do with that goddamn cheat diary and started pacing back and forth. Suddenly an idea hit her: rushing to a cubicle, she hurled the diary into the toilet and pulled the flushing lever: the diary pierced through the head of Moaning Myrtle before the ghost had time to look or scream at her, Ginny had already slipped away running fast.

Days and days have passed since Ginny decided not to trust her diary, and every day was a different nightmare. Every occasion seemed different, but she always felt weak, something wicked and bad lurking beneath her skin... It was as if something inside her that wasn't even herself was _fighting_ to go and retrieve the diary, as if her mind is on the side of Tom Riddle without suspicions or anything. Because now, he was a _part of her_ , on one side other she was afraid of him ... but the _other side_ was suspicious, restless.

A feeling that she could not explain herself lived inside her.

The reddish flush that usually lived in his cheeks had vanished, and was replaced by a mask of pale sadness: Ginny had a sunken face, two dark circles around her eyes that looked deeper than the Great Lake, and her body even thinner than usual where they could be glimpsed. the little bones.

Christmas also wasn't like any other year, that the girl almost regretted being dragged by the twins on the choice of not going to see Bill in Egypt: she loved Bill and really wished to see him, but maybe the twins were right when they said that Bill will probably not see her at all with the other girl that is his girlfriend buzzing around like an annoying insect.

The little Weasley fell asleep in class more often than ever, it was hard to stay attentive in class while the remorse for letting Tom Riddle's diary drown in a Moaning Myrtle's bathroom painfully clung at her. She had checked the toilet over and over again, but found no trace of the diary. She had even been tempted to ask the ghost if she had seen it around, or if someone had come in and took it, but held back as she imagined Myrtle's response.

On the evening of the 13th of February, Ginny went to the dormitory with Percy's voice ringing in her ears: he kept telling her that she was pale, and that she no longer looked like herself, but the reality was that not even the little girl could explain all that …

On the morning of Valentine's Day, little Weasley awoke with a start.

She had dreamt about Tom Riddle: his features were blurred, she no longer remembered his face, but she was sure she had seen him in the dream but just couldn't remember: his hair was black and rebellious like Harry's, and he wore Hogwarts uniform but with the Slytherin colors green and silver, he was young ... he was a student just like her ... but that was unimportant. He was furious with her for abandoning him, and that dream hurt Ginny more than anything, giving her a lump in her throat that was too painful to relieve.

"Hi," said the voice of Demelza Robins when Ginny reached the Common Room.

"Hi, how are not you at breakfast?"

"I was waiting for you"

Waiting for...? Ginny felt a flush of affection towards that shy and kind girl.

"You were upset last night, I got worried, do you often have those nightmares?" she asked in her usual shy tone.

"Oh no ... I think it's... because of Colin..." Ginny answered, though untruthfully.

"Right, stupid me!" she blushed violently: she seemed to be on the verge of crying. "Want to go downstairs?"

The two girls passed through the portrait hole and walked slowly away from the Gryffindor common room, chatting about their lessons, chatting about this and that, talking about things that couldn't trouble Ginny, and the memories of the dream quickly vanished. She reigned tranquillity when she spoke to Demelza Robins and that was a fortune.

"Vicky could not wait ... see, she had an appointment with her Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw friends," the girl was saying. "She knows a lot of people and even knew them before she came here. The parents of most first-year kids are friends with Vicky's parents because they work with the Ministry, I wonder why I don't know anyone, since my mother works at the Ministry too..."

Ginny chuckled: even her father worked at the Ministry and she didn't know anyone, so she told Demelza.

"Why did you not go with her, Demelza?" Ginny asked. "I don't think Vicky is as bad as ... Alice and Rose... to leave you alone."

"Yes, you're right, but I was the one who refused ... _there were all those people_!"

Ginny thought that Demelza's problem with being in a group was shyness, a little like her.

It was hard to talk to someone when there were a lot of talkative girls, and you were the only one that's a little shy: Ginny was not friends with Vicky but if the girl had asked her to join her and her friends, she would have made the same choice as Demelza, even if in other times she would have boldly accepted.

Sometimes she wondered what and where the real Ginny Weasley was ...

The two girls walked a little further and soon reached the Great Hall- which did not resemble the Great Hall: the walls were covered with bright pink flowers like the dress that Lockhart showed off in their second lesson of Defense Against the Dark Arts (which to say was probably the least memorable), and from the ceiling hung heart-shaped confetti.

"Oooh, Vicky was right then!" exclaimed Demelza delightedly.

Ginny liked all that pink, and as she reached the Gryffindor table she looked towards the teachers' table: Lockhart was wearing that bright pink dress, and the teachers sat by his side petrified, and as in the case of Snape disgusted. The situation at the house weren't much different, and the Gryffindor table was immersed in a disgusted silence, as if they had given everyone a nice big glass of Ossofast: Ritchie was stunned, Christopher was amused, William had an indefinable face, impossible to say if he were surprised at all or about to vomit. As for Alice and Rose they were as electrified as ever, and they kept smiling at everyone, as Vicky caught up with a beaming smile and sat down with them.

Ginny's thought went unhesitantly to Colin, to his face if he had seen all this, and especially Lockhart's dress ... she felt a strange sense of despair and could not believe that his heart would not again be beating until the Mandrake potion had been ready.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" suddenly exclaimed Lockhart, making them wince. "And my thanks to the forty-six people who sent me a greeting card! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all — and it doesn't end here!"

He clapped his hands elegantly and theatrically, and from the Entrance Hall came a dozen surly-looking little dwarfs that looked incredibly like the garden gnomes Ginny had at the Burrow: they had golden wings and a harp just like little evil cupids, because the impression was a bit of that.

"My covetous friends, postmen of love!" he announced fervently. "Today they will go around the whole school, delivering your Valentine's wishes! And the fun does not end here: I'm sure my colleagues will want to share the spirit of the party, why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met!"

Ginny watched Professor Flitwick turn red and covered his face in his hands, while Snape narrowed his eyes threateningly, as if he warning the students that whoever dared to ask him about Love Potions risked the absolute poisoning.

Everyone laughed at the Gryffindor table and Christopher was just pointing to Snape howling with laughter.

"So, you two, who are you going to give your Valentine?" Vicky asked mischievously and Ginny immediately turned to Harry Potter, who was having breakfast with his brother and Hermione Granger.

A Valentine to Harry? The proposal was so tempting ... and why not? After all, Valentine's Day was anonymous, Ginny could not go to flaunt the four winds. And certainly the boy, after all the bad things he had received in those days, would have appreciated a statement because it meant that not all people believed him a murderer cheat delinquent. Ginny was ashamed of what he thought of him and wanted to fix it, even if Harry would never know that the note was from the sister of his best friend: at eleven you could not be in love but Ginny felt a feeling too strong for Harry Potter, who gave her trembles in her legs and remarkable glow of heat on her skin, and she was tired of being ignored by him.

She had to get noticed and she had to do something!

"I don't think I'll send a Valentine," said Demelza, shy but sincere.

"And you Ginny?" urged Vicky seeing her enchanted. "Who are you looking at?"

"Oh ... I ..."

"I will not tell anyone, I promise!"

"I wasn't looking at anyone, really..." Ginny lied convincingly and the smile disappeared from the blonde's face.

It was time to act!

During her lessons, Ginny began worked hard and struggled to find good rhymes: she was going to send an anonymous musical Valentine to Harry. That idea had already been used by a couple of third-year girls and Ginny, having eavesdropped on their conversations in the bathroom, took a cue from there, and could not wait for her nursery rhyme to be ready.

Naturally, she had not said anything to Demelza or Vicky, while she would certainly have told Colin, but each time the two girls' eyes met hers, they start twinkling with a certain curiosity, as if they knew that Ginny had been finding rhymes dedicated to a boy, or rather, dedicated to _that_ boy.

"Um ... _His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad_..." Ginny said in a very low voice as Professor Lockhart questioned Rose about the spells he had performed in A Snack With Death. "This rhyme is fine ... but this does not convince me: the hero who conquered the You-Know-Who ... no, the Dark Lord ..."

The bell rang, and Ginny, satisfied, was the first to leave the class. She wandered through the corridors, almost running the risk of being late to Potions with Snape, but she did not care. She only cared about finding a dwarf to which she could leave her musical Valentine and finally found it, for her misfortune, right next to the classroom where the second year Slytherins had just finished their class.

"Sorry ..." the girl embarrassed.

"A Valentine for a loved one, miss?" the dwarf asked in a brisk tone and with a croaking voice. "Give it to me and you will see it delivered in no time, trust... give it to me, give it to me!"

Ginny handed him the rose-decorated card.

"This is for ... it's ... Harry Potter," he said softly, starting to turn red like a sunset. "And uh ... it's a musical Valentine..."

" _Ooooh_ , who knows a Weasley that made a musical Valentine's Day!" exclaimed a shuffling voice- Draco Malfoy's shuffling voice- and Ginny looked at him in terror: did he realize that it was Harry Potter? No, impossible. "Perhaps to the rejection from society ..." he added, pretending to take pictures with an invisible camera and the girl understood it to be a particularly bad impression of Colin Creevey.

"Colin is not a rejection of society!" she cried and ran away before Malfoy could reply.

The lessons of the afternoon continued in the best way, especially that of Charms with Professor Flitwick: Alice even had the courage to ask the boys to try the enchanting spells that Lockhart had spoken at breakfast, and the little professor performed, although quite reluctantly. Ginny wanted to master that spell but she was too young for that.

Only the Transfiguration lesson was left of the late afternoon, in the classroom next to Charms, shared with the Ravenclaws. At the door, they clashed with the Gryffindors and Slytherins of the second year, which little Weasley found embarrassing: Who knows if Harry had already received his Valentine and had already guessed who sent it...

"HARRY POTTER!" called a dwarf. "Oy, just you, Harry Potter!"

It was the dwarf to whom Ginny had given his little note, which made its way through the crowd kicking people's shins, and it was not long before Ginny fell to the ground so much in such a small body that she caught a glimpse of poor Christopher Jones: Harry Potter was about to receive his Valentine right there, in front of all those people and especially in the presence of Draco Malfoy.

"I have a music message to deliver to Harry Potter himself!" the dwarf shouted, pulling the boy by his bag.

"Let me go!" Harry growled and his bag tore: all his stuff fell in the corridor, causing an annoying traffic jam.

"What's going on here?" asked Draco Malfoy irritably.

"What's all this commotion?" Percy came up.

 _Lupus in Fabula_ , Ginny thought in a desperate way as the students huddled even more. _A hallucinatory picture: Harry Potter, Malfoy, his brother Percy and the crowd of students. What was supposed to happen today to make everything go wrong?_

Harry picked up his stuff but the dwarf threw him onto the ground, sat down on his ankles to keep him from moving and with a gloating air on his face said, "Well, here's your musical Valentine!"

 **His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,**

 **His hair is as dark as a blackboard.**

 **I wish he was mine, he's truly divine,**

 **the hero who conquered the Dark Lord.**

Death would have been preferable.

Ginny became a color similar to the brownish eyes of his eyes as the crowd laughed out loud at her absurd nursery rhyme loving and mawkish (some of them, including Alice, Rose and Christopher, even had tears in their eyes with laughter): But what had she drunk when Ginny had the idea of that _damned_ Valentine? The Whiskey Incendiary? She knew it could have such effects ...

Or maybe it was just her stupidity?

"OFF YOU GO TO CLASS! GO!" Percy shouted as he tried to get the students away from there. "Get away, let's go!" The bell has gone five minutes ago, all into the classrooms, now! _You too_ , Malfoy! "

But Malfoy was busy: Ginny saw him stoop to the ground and grab a black little book off the ground, which must surely belong to Harry. He showed it greedily to Crabbe and Goyle, his two loyal companions, and little Weasley almost got a heart attack. She would have preferred to repeat the Valentine that she had done for Harry Potter to the whole world millions of times, to get back the diary of Tom Riddle, found by the boy in the bathroom.

She completely panicked: what if Tom Riddle had told him all her secrets as punishment or revenge? What if he was going to tell him all the girl's suspicions and all the confidences she had revealed only to his friend Tom?

Ginny looked from Harry to Malfoy, terrified.

"Give it back!"

"Wonder what's Potter written in here?"

"Give it to me, Malfoy," Percy said firmly.

"Not before taking a look"

"As Prefect of the school ..."

"Expelliarmus!" Harry disarmed Malfoy and the diary flew into the hands of Ron, who grinned broadly: Ginny wanted to vanish into thin air.

"Harry!" Percy roared, raising his voice. "No spells in the corridors, I'll have to report!"

It had been a huge mistake for Ginny to get rid of the diary, and she needs to get it back soon, before it was too late. She was already thinking, still shaken and terrified, for a way to get it back to herself when Malfoy, as she passed him to get into the class, furiously shouted at her the only thing that could have made the situation worse:

"I do not think Potter liked your valentine much!"

Ginny felt herself dying inside, and covering her face with his hands, raced into the classroom.

* * *

 _ **So that's it, hope you liked it.**_

 _ **Next: Tom Riddle acts again**_

 _ **Editor: Helena Heansilton**_

 _ **Se y'all soon**_

 _ **~Ermory**_


	9. Tom Riddle Acts Again

_**Well, guys in three chapters we are going into Prisoner of Azkaban so I am super excited. Remeber to review and I hope you enjoy Ginny's story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the plot or the characters they belong to JK Rowling and EMPotter**_

 _ **Original Link:**_ **** ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371_**

* * *

 **TOM RIDDLE ACTS AGAIN**

After classes, Ginny was the first to reach her dorm, and straight away she locked herself in the bathroom: it had been a bad day, seeing Tom's diary with Harry on top of the musical Valentine being shouted practically in front of the whole school.

She plunged herself into the shower and immediately turned on the hot water, vaguely hoping that it would not take too long to flush the thoughts out; but they remained imperturbable in her head. The girl almost thought that it was worth drowning in the shower for that incredible humiliation. Wondering about the reason for her foolishness she stepped out of the shower, and after putting on her pyjamas opened the bathroom door-

"FINALLY!" Rose wailed irritably.

"Ginny ... goodness, you were here!" Vicky said but she was not angry: rather, she was surprised. "Why did you not tell us you liked Harry Potter? You would gladly have helped you, I didn't know you had such good taste ..."

" _Vicky_!" blew Demelza upsetly as Alice and Rose giggled.

"No, that is, in the sense... _hell, you like Harry Potter_!"

Ginny tried to smile but turned quickly turned her face away so as not to be betrayed by the face red with rage and anger: she had really been stupid, with the stupid idea of sending a stupid nursery rhyme with stupid verses to an impossible boy as a stupid little girl in love. Ginny would have covered up with epithets blaming it on the twins, however strong they were, but she refrained from scandalizing anyone else. The _enchanting_ figure was enough for her that afternoon.

"Weasley ..." Alice muttered, nudging Rose.

Both of them smiled at the girl's forty-two smile and exclaimed in unison, as if it was not clear enough: "But you like Harry Potter?"

The evening went on like that, between Vicky who kept reapproaching her for not telling her companions and that they could seriously help her, between Alice and Rose, who bombarded her with questions about life, death and miracles of Harry Potter and giggling almost malignantly when Ginny was forced to answer (they knew the story how Ginny had known Harry since four-and-a-half), and the laughter coming from the Great Hall because of the twins' chorus, which sounded awfully like _his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad_. That seemed to very much please the Gryffindors, especially Alice and Rose, who began to mock her so wickedly that Vicky locked herself in the bathroom for a good hour and Demelza turned off the lights and silenced her companions.

That day was more like an exercise in enduring humiliation.

With the days that followed, the twins quickly forgot their sister's nursery rhyme, and when Ginny sometimes reminded them about that, in surprise they quickly fell silent and tried to be as friendly as possible with her, especially in the presence of Percy. On his part, he seemed as though he never witnessed the musical Valentine, and that was only good! Alice and Rose were the geese of the situation: they looked like the complete opposite of the twins, behaving even more disagreeable than usual as they launched countless winks at Harry and sang in the dormitory _his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad_ clearly with the intention of driving Ginny out of her minds, and it wouldn't take long. As for the other boys in the class, they looked profoundly sorry for those things, even though Christopher often struggled to stay serious.

Then came March and the Easter holidays: it had been four months since Justin and Nearly-Headless-Nick had been attacked and the Hogwarts students came to think that the assailant had grown tired of petrifying people and was giving up. Ginny did not have time to think about the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, since she was too invested in trying to formula a perfect plan to recover the diary, and the only solution seemed to be sneaking into Harry's dorm and rummage through his stuff, but it was way too risky.

"Alice and Rose are _hateful_ , I can not stand them! So ... now almost all the school knows that Ginny likes the famous Harry Potter but just _stop_ asking her malicious and nagging questions, right?"

Vicky was outraged and Demelza hurled at Ginny a sidelong glance as all three girls walked down the corridors after dinner. She seemed deeply annoyed that the school knew that Ron Weasley's shy little sister had a crush on his best friend.

"William and Christopher like them a lot," said Demelza.

"Poor them," Ginny muttered between his teeth.

"Nah, they just struggle to get rid of them ... Ritchie Coote told me"

"That's great news!" exclaimed Demelza beaming, but Vicky wasn't listening to her anymore.

She ran to the window and looked down as if she was enchanted (though she certainly was enchanted by something). Demelza and Ginny approached and the girl noticed brooms racing around the Quidditch court: judging by the colors, it was the Hufflepuffs. Vicky had a spasm and opened her mouth even though no sound came out and her friends stared at her confusedly.

"THE HUFFLEPUFF'S! THE HUFFLEPUFF ARE TRAINING FOR TOMORROW!" she finally cried.

Ginny wanted to say, 'So what?' but Demelza stopped it.

"Cedric Diggory is in Hufflepuff ..." the girl answered in a whisper. "Cedric Diggory, girls!"

"Still with that story," muttered Demelza amusedly.

"But do not you understand? It's an opportunity not to be missed!"

"Sorry but what ...?" Ginny intervened and in less than a minute she knew everything that was to be known about Cedric Diggory.

This boy was the son of Amos Diggory, whom Ginny had already heard of because he worked in the Ministry of Magic with his father, he is a Hufflepuff fifth year at Hogwarts, he was tall, blond and really, really charming: Vicky was going to go to the training sessions before it was Gryffindor's turn, to see him and he was begging at the two girls.

Ginny had let herself be convinced when ...

 _Come on! After the Hufflepuff there is Gryffindor training and the stadium will be full as an egg!_

"I will not come" Ginny declared.

"Why? There's nobody in the common room!"

"I do not feel very well ..." she lied. "I'm going to Madam Pomfrey's and I'll join you later!"

"Suddenly?" asked Demelza worried.

"Yeah!" Ginny called after her and hurried away, striding toward the Gryffindor Common Room.

Ginny had waited patiently for the last member of Gryffindor, a clumsy and chubby-faced boy, to come out of the Common Room and slowly climbed the spiral staircases leading to the boys dormitories. She passed the 'first-year students' door and quickly threw open the 'second-year students' door, slipped inside and sighed with relief.

This worked well so far.

She locked herself in even though she imagined that anyone outside could open the door in no time, and went to Harry's bed, realizing that it must be the one next to the trunk labeled 'HP'. She threw off the blankets with almost brutal ferocity, pulled out the sheets and pajamas from under the pillow but there was no trace of the diary. She tried the drawers, spilling their contents, but there was nothing. The only other possibility was his trunk. She opened it and frantically threw his stuff everywhere, spreading it around, accidentally tearing his cloak and broke many pages of _Travels with trolls_ , but a rage seized her: she screamed and swore aloud for the barbarity she had just done and for the fact that she could not find Tom Riddle's diary, then when all hope was about to fall from her, she found it and laid it greedily inside her robes.

What she did next was just running madly toward her dorm.

 _Dear Tom ..._ Ginny wrote once in safety.

 **Hi Harry Potter.** Tom Riddle answered and the girl's heart went up to her throat.

 _No Tom, I'm Ginny Weasley._

 **How did you resume this diary?**

 _I ... I'm so sorry for what I did Tom!_

She was not so sure of Tom's innocence but that strange feeling inside her led her to keep talking to him, to listen to him, to trust in some way a memory kept in a diary for fifty years. It was silly, maybe weird ... but that was it. She suspected him, but at the same time she would do _anything_ to get back a friend with whom to confide, in order to get back his company. In spite of everything it had been important and still was.

 **Yes, it was terrible.**

 _You are right! You do not know what a dread I felt when I saw that Harry had the diary. You know, it happened on Valentine's Day: I was getting into the classroom when there was a traffic jam because of a love note I had written to Harry and his bag got torn and ... poof! There was this diary in his books and I panicked. I thought about the worst, I thought you could take revenge on me!_

 **Despite everything I could never do it, Ginny.**

The girl sighed with relief.

 **Then** , urged Riddle. **How did you get your diary back?**

 _A friend of mine told me they were all at Quidditch training, so I waited while no one was in the dorm and snuck in. I hoped with all my heart that Harry does not report everything to the teachers: I made quite a mess in a room._

 **Fascinating.**

 _Tom, can you forgive me?_ Ginny wrote, noting that Tom Riddle did not answer her as before. _I will do anything to get your forgiveness, I promise. I swear to Godric Gryffindor, like my father made me swear._

 **Oh, obviously. There will certainly be something I can do to you. I missed you, Ginny Weasley, and I know for sure you will show me your loyalty, ability, readiness and of course you will be of enormous help.**

Ginny did not know what to do, probably the only good thing to do was a walk before they all come back and notice how upset she was, being pale or doing anything strange that might arouse suspicion.

He scribbled a ' _I have to go, Tom!_ ' and ran into the corridors.

Strolling around, she realized that she was not the only one who had the idea of going for a walk while everyone was away. In fact, there were snaps and strange noises, but certainly nothing sinister. That noise came from a classroom and a familiar voice echoed in her ears: it sounded like Percy's voice. Was he revising for exams? Probably, it was from Percy. But did his brother not always tell her that they did not have to bother people while they were studying?

Oh, but how many paranoia! Almost resembling him ... she was a _Weasley!_

She opened the door and the scene before her was more than disgusting, she would have dared to say vomit-triggering: the Ravenclaw Prefect, Penelope Clearwater, was sitting on a bench and Percy clasped on her chest and kissed her with fury. Ginny almost laughed and never thought that Percy was capable of _those_ things ... especially in an empty classroom in an almost empty castle!

"GINNY!" he roared, quickly adjusting the red tie of embarrassment, while Penelope came down from the desk with a totally confused but serene air. "Oh my goodness ..." he added, gasping, almost unable to speak.

"Percy," said the girl.

"Go Penelope, I'll join you later," said Percy to his girlfriend. "That's a maybe!" he shouted at her.

Ginny lowered her head to stop herself from laughing.

"Oh Godric, you look upset!"

"No, I'm not upset because you ... well ..."

Percy almost did not seem to hear it and took it gently by the shoulders, with a gesture that suggested an imminent threat, and blew: "You will not tell anyone what you saw!"

"But do you think that ...?"

" _No one_ ," he repeated, still red-faced. "Especially the twins, they absolutely do not have to..."

Percy swallowed and ran away, throwing a last look of warning to his sister and the message to Ginny was clear: I will seriously get the Slytherin monster to petrify if you dare open your mouth.

The next day was a nightmare almost as much as the previous one... and the previous one: Ginny could no longer raise her arms and legs, she was weaker than usual, her eyes were tired, her pallor was ghostly and, above all, she was thinner than usual.

It really scared her.

Her heart began to beat quickly, as if in anxiety ... in fact, _she certainly had anxiety_. Why was it so scary? She was stuffing herself with food at Hogwarts banquets, she was used to eating a lot but she looked so malnourished and without strength?

"Who knows if Cedric will grab the snitch before Harry!" Vicky was saying as Ginny got ready with sore arms and thighs.

"Who's Cedric?" asked Alice.

"Cedric Diggory?" Rose echoed. "Oh, _he's so cute!_ "

Vicky looked deeply irritated and Demelza disgusted, then the girl said, "Hey Ginny, are you ready?"

"No," she croaked as Alice and Rose emerged excitedly from the dorm, mumbling something that sounded indistinctly as 'lentil is not ready yet' and giggling loudly.

"We're waiting for you," said Demelza fervently.

"Oh no go on, I'll join you right away"

"Like yesterday?" Vicky ironically grimaced.

"No, I really will catch up"

When the two companions hurried out of the dorm too, Ginny rushed with trembling legs to take her diary from the back of the trunk to confide again with Tom Riddle, because that was what the girl always did: confide in him, always and in any case. She would not allow an impulsive act to ruin their relationship and Ginny was ready to write to him as often as she could.

 _Dear Tom, I think I'm not very well today._

 **What's up, Ginny dear?**

 _I think I have serious problem, because I eat but look undernourished, I sleep and it seems I did not sleep for who knows how many days and then ... I'm ugly, pale ... it's horrible what's happening to me, Tom._

 **Oh sorry! You must go immediately to get yourself checked now.**

Ginny thought about it. _Yes, I could really because no student stayed here in school to see me in this pitiful state._

 **There is nobody?**

 _Oh no, they're all at the Quidditch game. But I hope not to meet Percy with her girlfriend Penelope Clearwater, you know, I saw them kissing in an empty classroom and my brother was upset. I think they did not see each other long because I heard Percy say that Penelope is a Muggleborn and did not want to risk running around the castle._

"GINNY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" the voice of Demelza Robins roared.

Little Weasley stood by the door leading to the library and felt very ill: she had a retching and again the feeling she had not felt for months had made its way into her ... she's lost her memory again.

What was she doing? Good question. Why was she there? Beautiful question. What the _hell_ had happened? Wonderful question.

"RUN, MOVE!" echoed Vicky who ran at breakneck speed behind Demelza and dragged her by the arm.

Ginny felt very faint and fell: Vicky came back to help her, believing it was her fault.

"What is it...?"

"The monster! The Slytherin Heir has attacked again! Here in the library!"

Ginny her body freezing up to the neck: another attack? But why when the attacks happened she was always next to the place of aggression? Tom Riddle was innocent ... a horrible thought crossed her mind as she struggled to keep up with her friends.

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 _ **Next: The Chamber of Secrets**_

 _ **So I am super excited for the next chapter, and it's going to be long so it might take a little bit more to translate but do not worry, I did promise to translate minimum 1 every week so you guys can have it in a couple of days.**_

 _ **Editor: Helena Heansilton**_

 _ **~Ermory~**_


	10. The Chamber of Secrets

_**Ok, this is the chamber of secrets yall! Don't worry I translated 3 chapters in one go I am just waiting or my best friend, the editor, to edit them. Hope Y'all have a nice day.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own the story or anything it all belongs to JK Rowling and the original writer is EmPotter I just translated**_

 _ **Original Link:** **?action=printall &sid=1166371**_

* * *

 **The Chamber of Secrets**

"From now on, all students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening" Professor McGonagall announced to all the Gryffindors, who were crammed into the common room.

Ginny had never seen McGonagall enter the Gryffindor Tower but this was an exception. The girl was not so sure to be seeing well, judging from her tearful, glassy and terrified eyes that gave her a completely guilty air: that very day there was another _double_ attack on Hermione and Penelope Clearwater, Percy's girlfriend, and security measures that the teachers were putting in were, to say the least, 'strict'.

"No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

No Gryffindor complained that teachers would also have to accompany them all to the bathroom and Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team (as Vicky had said) had not dared to breathe a word, so were the other boys in the team, including the twins, who also seemed to be deeply regretting this situation.

Ginny was only half listening to McGonagall as she sat in an armchair near her: she couldn't spare her mind for anything but what happened, she could not help but think ... it seemed almost a bunch of nonsense, nonsense that did not admit evidence, yet everything coincides perfectly...

 _All she believed came out right._

"Needless to say, I have rarely experienced such anguish," said Professor McGonagall, breaking that deadly silence. "And it is likely that the school will be closed, unless the culprit is caught. I would strongly recommend anyone who thinks they know something about this to come forward"

She turned on his heels and struggled out of the portrait hole while Ginny, anguished as the teacher, got up from the chair to go straight to her dormitory for a good night's sleep, even if with what was buzzing in her mind, sleep would come before dawn, after which she would have to present herself in class.

"That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff," commented Lee Jordan, the best friend of the twins. "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe?"

But Ginny no longer believed that it took a Slytherin to open the Chamber of Secrets, no longer believed what was the true legend. Still, she could never attack people, she would never do it. She felt like a rag, how could she be doing something so horrible? She was afraid of squashing an insect, she was afraid of throwing out the _garden gnomes_ at the Burrow, let alone being capable of attacking a person! However, the red paint for the message on the wall, the cock feathers for some reason, the empty memory when strange things happened ... everything points to this!

But, what the girl was wondering, was how did she attack people against her will?

She shuddered, trying to find answers, and hiding under the sheets she had another crisis of tears.

When she found that Demelza, Vicky, Alice and Rose are still waiting to fall asleep, she decided that perhaps it would be better to go down to the common room to stay alone for a little, at least there she was not constantly watched: every single moan or noise that she made would silencing her dorm mates, who seemed to be listening every time to know what she was doing.

She reached the common room and, unfortunately, she still found people there, including Percy, who came to meet her immediately.

"Ginny ..." he said wildly. "Listen, you know something about this story?"

Despite his sudden interest in her, the girl was also petrified by the fact that Percy had arrived immediately to the point: had he suspected her?

"Well, it's been days I repeated that you're pale, thin ... I'm worried ... didn't you see what happened to Penelope? Hermione, Ron's friend?" he said with eyes full of concern. "What I want to tell you is that if you know something, _anything_ , you have to say it.

"If I knew anything I would have said it ..." Ginny muttered, her tone of voice betraying her, and Percy did not seem convinced.

Between her dorm mates who did not suspect anything, and Percy who repeatedly tells her the usual things and who now seemed to be accusing her of attacking people, she preferred her dorm mates: coming back up again and closing the canopy curtains, she wrote to Tom Riddle, whom she really needed at a time so difficult.

 _Dear Tom._

 **Hi! How's your life, Ginny?**

 _You know how? A real disgust. Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I do not look like myself anymore, I think he suspects me. Today there was another assault and I do not know where I was ... Oh, Tom, what should I do? Maybe I'm going crazy. I think I'm the one that's attacking everyone, Tom!_

By the time she wrote those words, she burst into desperate sobs again.

 **It is not possible! Don't you create these paranoias, okay?** Riddle scolded her. **You have nothing to do with these attacks, it has nothing to do with you ... the attacker must have targeted you because you had certainly found him with his hands in the bag and he removed your memory. So now he is persecuting you.**

 _Do you think that's Tom? I'm afraid! I would never kill anyone, really!_

 **You have nothing to do with this story, dear Ginny. Trust me.**

 _I'll do it Tom, I promise._

A dense hallucinatory chest forced the little Weasley to collapse onto her bed in pain, until the oblivion of sleep welcomed her into his arms, making her forget all the rest.

In the days that followed the vigilance was so strict that many students wondered if Hogwarts had become a military school instead of a school of magic, but that was just thoughts to cheer them up, because everyone knew the danger they were facing. Now no one laughed and the students who moved around the school only in groups, looking around with a worried and tensed.

The summer was coming fast but nobody could enjoy it: they were all forced to remain segregated to the castle.

Ginny had not been visiting Colin for a long time, and could not even see him again since Madam Pomfrey had been very strict about that circumstance.

 _I'm sorry, no visits. There's chance the attacker might come back to finish those people off_. She had said harshly, speaking to her through the crack in the door.

Another thing that worried the students was the sudden removal of Dumbledore from the school, and if Ginny asked Percy anything to understand more about that story, he blew angry and told her that he knew nothing, which was quite impossible, but the girl ascribed that to how he felt about the attack on Penelope: she always felt so, whenever something happened ... _she felt constantly guilty._

"So, I wished to inform you that the exams will be starting in a week, on the first of June" Snape was announcing to the Potions class, as the Gryffindor and Slytherin students finished taking notes next to their cauldrons: Ginny was alone and William turned to look at her as if he was genuinely sorry about leaving her for Rose.

" _Exams_?" moaned Christopher Jones, opening his mouth wide open.

"Yes, Mr. Jones, you understood it well: exams," Snape said unctuously. "The only reason to keep the school open is for the sake of providing education for you students, but it seems as though many of you enjoy basking in ignorance"

Harper and Astoria Greengrass chuckled, pointing to Christopher who thinned his eyes, face turning purple.

After class, the boy went through the basement grumbling that Snape should not be so rude to Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students as Vicky protested that first-year students should not be taking exams, because they were already too traumatised for the things that had happened, but Demelza did not take any compromise and for her Snape had been right, even though she said it reluctantly.

The days passed and the exams were getting closer and closer: another weight that poor Ginny Weasley had to endure. What had she learnt that year? What if she loses her memory again and be expelled? That one would have been a catastrophe. Demelza, noticing her nervousness, told her that this was only a good sign since she was more nervous when she got to the exams- something that Ginny did not cheer up at.

 _Dear Tom, good morning._ Ginny wrote one morning before going down for breakfast.

 **Dear Ginny, how are you feeling today?**

 _My stomach is completely closed: three days are left before exams. I would rather be petrified myself, Tom ... and what if something happens and I get expelled? My mother will not be able to bear it, it will be such a shame. This year I have not learnt anything, except that when bad things happen I lose my memory._

The knot in her stomach became nothing short of painful.

 **I could do something for you, in fact, you could do something for yourself.** Riddle answered.

 _What do you mean?_ Ginny wrote , she did not understand where her friend wanted to go.

 **Do you remember what you said to me after taking your diary from Harry Potter's trunk?**

 _Yes, Tom. I told you ... if you could excuse me._

 **And what else?**

Ginny forced herself to remember.

 _I told you I would do anything to make you forgive me._

 **Good!** Tom Riddle said. **The day has come. You have to do something for me, but since we are friends you will do it especially for yourself, do you understand what I mean? A simple goodbye message on the second floor wall and going down a certain place will suffice. I will totally forgive you, you know.**

The little girl let her diary roll on the bed and looked at it as if it was infected: she had not understood at all the fact that she should do something for Riddle and consequently for herself. And then ... a simple goodbye message on the second-floor wall? Under the words of _the Chamber of Secrets_? And go to a certain place? But _why_?

There was something strange about that: the part closest to Ginny told her not to trust, the other could not wait to execute the orders ... it was too strange a sensation to be described, that little Weasley was scared by that.

I must do it! She said to himself.

 _And why should you?_ A little voice in her ear told her.

I have to obey, Tom Riddle is my friend.

 _No, why? I'm scared, it's too dangerous_.

What a hell of a coward I am, I have to hurry up.

 _NO!_

Ginny took a deep breath and then wrote in her diary: _Why are you asking me this, Tom?_

 **You will do it?** Tom asked, ignoring her question.

 _I don't know._ Ginny answered, fighting, her expression filled with tension and nervousness.

Perhaps now have been the time to finally talk about it with someone, she had to reveal everything! This story needs to end ... in three days there would be exams too and she won't be able to do it because of all those things happening clogging her mind. She had to act right away, she had to tell someone. Maybe Percy ... or the twins ... but no, Ron! Yes, she had to tell her brother Ron and Harry, those who were solving the mystery.

 _Yes, she will talk to them ..._

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were right at the Gryffindor table, far from indiscreet eyes, and were sitting alone while having breakfast: it was perfect, it would be easy to tell them everything.

Ginny made her way towards them, and sat down next to Ron. At that precise moment in which she took her place she had a twinge in her heart, a painful twinge that made her regret that she was there to tell the whole story to the two boys. She wanted to go back, she wanted the protection of her parents and never wanted to come to Hogwarts ... she wanted that weight not to lie on her shoulders, the weight of guilt.

"What's up?" Ron asked, between spoonfuls of porridge.

Ginny had a nervous, tense look as she scanned the whole Gryffindor table. She gripped her hands in her lap with a terrified expression, rocking back and forth imperceptibly.

"Spit it out," Ron said, staring at her.

"I have to tell you something," Ginny stammered, not even brushing Harry's eyes.

"What is it?"

"What?"

Why the hell am I going to tell everything to my brother and Harry Potter? She wondered.

 _They can help me._

It is pretty useless to talk with these two.

 _I have to tell someone what's happening to me!_

The inner conflict flared up, but to who should Ginny listen? But then ... what should she ever say? She could never say, 'Hey guys, I think I'm the one attacking everyone. Negative side? I'm an aggressor. Silver lining? I attack people against my will. You two must help me and do not report me, okay? "

Perhaps she had to explain it more calmly ... she had to show the diary ...

"Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets, have you seen someone, or someone acting oddly?" Harry asked softly as he leaned forward so that only Ginny and Ron could hear.

The girl took a deep breath and looked at the faces of the two boys, then ...

"If you've finished eating, I'll sit that seat, Ginny." Percy's voice made her jump and she got up from the bench as if she'd been electrically shocked, and glanced at Percy frightenedly.

By now it was too late, she could not do it in front of Percy, and perhaps it was better that his brother had intervened: she would never have been able to say it all without being misunderstood, she couldn't say anything sensible or maybe if she had shown the diary to the two boys to see what she was doing, to see if ... no. She trusted Tom Riddle and was almost ashamed of herself: he just wanted to help her and she behaved contemptuously.

She ran up the corridors as they were clearing.

 _I'm on the second floor, Tom. What should I do?_ she wrote quickly, before anyone saw her.

Her mind was clear, clear of any thought except to carry out the orders of Tom Riddle. A strange feeling was again taking possession of her, as if she had left the real Ginny to rot somewhere, and a new Ginny was born: she trusted Tom Riddle too much, she had no choice.

 **I'm glad you accept my help, I almost thought you wanted to behave** _ **contemptuously**_ **with me.** Riddle said. **In the bathroom, on the second floor, you will find a can of red paint and you will use it to write the following message:** _ **her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.**_ **Hide the paint in the bathroom and stay there. I'll give you more directions when you're done.** _ **Trust me.**_

Ginny's eyes turned glassy, and she performed.

Ginny remembered everything she had done, and had done something terrible but remembered. She remembered that she had written the message, remembered she had just pronounced 'open up' and immediately a sink had came to life, opening to reveal a black and ugly pipe, she remembered that under the order of Tom Riddle she had fallen into the pipe and had the sensation of being sucked into an endless well, a nightmare that she would not have wished even to her worst enemy, remembered to have crossed a tunnel following the trail of a giant snake skin, remembered how the coil had twisted as she passed ...

She was in a long, dimly lit room.

Little Weasley began to advance among the columns, legs trembling, and reaching the last row of columns she found herself at the foot of a large statue that depicted an ancient and ape-like face of an old wizard. She no longer knew what to do, she only knew that she was in grave danger... and when she opened the diary to understand what was happening, the object had an incredible thrill, a vibration that could have been felt up to miles away.

Ginny dropped the diary and a light blinded her as a tall, charming sixteen-year-old boy came out of the diary: his outlines seemed fuzzy as if the little girl saw him through a tarnished glass.

He looked at her smiling, and spoke in a soothing voice:

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny Weasley"

* * *

 _ **Dun dun duuuuun, and that people was the chamber of secrets! Spoiler alert this fanfiction has 79 chapters!**_

 _ **Editor: Helena Heansilton**_

 _ **Next: Saved by Harry Potter**_


	11. Saved by Harry Potter

_**Soo, my best friend and editor finished editing this chapter! yay, I have a pause from GCSEs, also yay! ...they start again even more violently on the 4th...help me... but anyway here is the new chapter Y'all!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the writing people, I just translate .. everything belongs to JK Rowling and EmPotter**_

 _ **Original Link:**_ ** _?sid=1166371 &i=1_**

* * *

 **Saved by Harry Potter**

"Tom? Tom Riddle?"

The sixteen-year-old boy nodded elegantly.

"B-but ... H-how did you do it? W-Where a-am I?"

"You still do not understand, you stupid little girl? You're really nothing else." Tom Riddle mocked with a disgusted expression on his handsome face. "You opened the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny Weasley"

The girl felt her heart in her throat and stepped back.

What would it be like to say that it was she who opened the Chamber of Secrets? What was happening? Tom Riddle, what was he doing there and how did he do it? Unanswered questions crowded her mind, unable to be understood ... she was unable to believe a single word that strange boy said. He could not be Tom Riddle! Tom was a friend, a _faithful_ friend.

"Who a-are you?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle" the boy answered. "You opened the Chamber, dear Ginny Weasley"

"I-it's not tr-true ..."

"Oh yes, that is true, but of course you did not know what you were doing, did you?" Tom Riddle continued mockingly. "Well, of course, your revelations on that diary became more fun every day ... _the diary_ ... I would never have opened my heart to a stranger by revealing my secrets to him ... But I was patient, kind, understanding and now _you adore me_ "

She felt sick, she had no strength while Tom Riddle circled around her, and now he was standing behind her.

"Modesty aside, I've always had the gift of captivating the people I needed," he whispered in her ear. "You opened your soul to me and your soul was exactly what I wanted, I feed on your deepest fears, your darkest secrets, this made me stronger and stronger, I became more and more powerful. Yes, it was you who strangled the roosters and wrote that threatening message on Halloween, you were the one to stir up the Basilisk, the Slytherin Snake, against those four Mudbloods and the Squib's cat"

Ginny looked around: there were no exits.

 _How did she attack people against her will?_

And then the question that had so tormented her finally had a terrible answer: it was Tom Riddle, since she was still at the Burrow! He had wanted to know everything about her and had bewitched her through the diary, pretending to be her best friend, had made her do horrible things like attacking innocents and writing threatening messages on the wall… he had _possessed_ her for his purposes.

But what was he trying to achieve? Who was really Tom Riddle?

"WHO ARE YOU?" the little girl shrieked with tears in her eyes.

"Oh right ..." Riddle said almost mortified.

Ginny was bent in two from the pain in her chest and her legs gave in under her slender weight, but still looked up at the boy who was twirling his wand in the air tracing three words written with the handwriting so familiar, that the girl had learned to love.

 **TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE.**

Tom Marvolo Riddle looked at little Ginny from above to see if she was really looking and waved his wand again in a threatening way: the letters of his name rearranged, disposed in a completely different order than before.

 **I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.**

Ginny slumped to the floor and gave a long, strangled howl: she began to sob, to wriggle like crazy... but now she could not go back. She had trusted an invisible stranger, she was wrong and was paying. How could she be so silly? Silly, silly, silly girl. She had to tell her parents right away, she had to say that a mysterious diary answered her from nowhere. There was no spell that could make diaries respond …

"You have little time left, Ginny Weasley," Tom Riddle said as he stared at the crying girl indifferently. "There's not much life left in you: you've put too much of yourself in that diary, too much of yourself in me, but I have to thank you, it allowed me to finally leave those pages. Thanks to you I'll finally have my body back"

Little Weasley slumped onto the ground, too weak to stay up... like the helpless prey slowing its fight under the sinking teeth of the predator: she looked possessed, she was breathing hard and could not get up from the ground, and her sight began to abandon her as if she was really dying...

"Lord Voldemort will come back to life!" he continued, and his lips rippled into a smile.

"NOO! LET ME GO!" Ginny shrieked and screamed again.

"I'm so sorry not to witness the development of a great love story," he laughed. "All right, I'll give you the last good news before it's too late for you: you'll die happily and you know why, you'll die in the arms of your beloved Harry Potter, in the arms of the one who ignores you, in the arms of the best friend of your brother who by chance knows that you exist ... Yes, that nosy thing will come but it will be too late for you ... "

And he spoke a strange language while Ginny let her head softly drop onto the floor, tears in her eyes at the prospect that she was really about to leave: she saw only a large creeping animal, a snake ... _the Basilisk_ ... that was crawling towards her, towards Tom Riddle, who caressed him like an adorable garden puppy.

"Too bad that all your friends have been lucky enough not to look him in the eye," muttered Riddle regretfully. "Harry Potter will come, you silly little girl, and he'll notice you but just too late, anyway, _is that not romantic?_ "

The last thing Ginny Weasley saw was Tom Riddle's eyes focused on hers ...

Ginny blinked slightly.

She opened her eyes a little and her sight intercepted the high ceiling of the Chamber of Secrets: the nightmare was not over yet. She blinked again with her heart reaching up her throat and realized she was alive and well, being normal ... as if she had only a terrible headache. She opened his eyes completely and saw a pair of bright green eyes looking at her with relief.

They were the eyes of Harry Potter, so Riddle had told her a little bit of truth?

For the first time, she held her gaze with that boy as he sat down, and her stupefied eyes went from the large shape of _the Basilisk_ , which apparently seemed dead, to Harry, who had in his hand a sword, and was drenched in blood.

He was in danger for her ... and Ginny shivered, feeling tears streaming down her face.

"Harry ..." she said between sobs. "Oh, Harry ... I tried to tell you at breakfast, but I couldn't say it in front of Percy, it was me, Harry ... but I-I'm-I swear I didn't mean to, it was R-Riddle, h-he made me and he t-took me over and…how did you kill that… that thing? W-where is Riddle? The last thing I remember is him coming out of the diary ..."

It was not true but she preferred to keep the conversation part for herself.

"It's alright," Harry said, lifting the diary, which Ginny noticed to be pierced by a large hole. "Riddle's finished ... Look, him and the Basilisk. ... Come, Ginny, let's get out of here ..."

He helped her to stand up as Ginny sobbed desperately: together they crossed the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets as a mysterious bird circled around them, and they came to the exit where echoes sounded in the darkness, like boulders being shifted. She did not say a single word on the way down the tunnel and Harry kept holding her hand behind his back as if to encouraging her to walk.

"Ron!" the boy shouted, hastening his pace. "Ginny is fine, she's here with me!"

" _Ginny!_ " Ron yelled and stretched his arm through a large gap between rocks, pulling her through. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened?"

He tried to hug her but she kept her distance.

"But you're fine!" Ron was radiant. "It's all over, what ... where did that bird come from?"

"He's Dumbledore's"

"How come you've got a sword?"

"I'll explain when we get out of here"

"But..."

" _Later,_ " Harry hissed, and Ginny knew he didn't want to talk in front of her.

What would her parents say? They had a stupid daughter, a daughter too stupid who had been fooled by a stranger in a diary. What would her mother say and who knows what she had thought of her? And her father? Her brothers? They sure had thought she was dead, dead because of the Slytherin Heir but instead... there was no Heir: the Heir was that of the other time, Voldemort, who had acted using her to get back a body. Ginny would never forgive herself for that, _ever_.

She was reviving Voldemort ...

She will certainly be driven out of school and disinherited by the family: Ron still did not know that it was she who opened the Chamber of Secrets and made life hell for everyone, made everyone suffer ... Ron did not know, nobody knows yet it but soon Harry would tell everything to everyone, because it was right that way, because he had risked his life to save that of his best friend's little sister.

"Hello" a familiar voice sounded in the tunnel: the voice of Lockhart. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

"His memory's gone: the Charm had _backfired_ ," explained Ron.

Ginny on normal occasions would have gladly laughed but that was not the moment: her face was still streaked with silent tears, and couldn't find the funny side of that terrible situation.

"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" Harry asked Ron, and the bird that's supposed to be a Phoenix passed them.

"He seems he wants you to grab hold ..." Ron said, perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there..."

"Fawkes is not just any bird"

They formed a chain, flying upwards under the pull of Fawkes, holding each other by the hand, including Professor Lockhart. In less than no time, Fawkes the Phoenix had brought them back to the bathroom of Moaning Myrtle, who seemed very unhappy that Harry had not died like her. After leaving the bathroom on the second floor, Fawkes, still circling over their heads, led them to McGonagall's office.

Harry knocked and opened the door.

For a moment there was silence as the four stood in the doorway, then there was a cry.

"GINNY!" it was Molly Weasley who immediately rushed to her daughter, followed by her husband.

"Honey, are you okay?" his father hugged her.

"Oh my child ... how tremendously scared were we, _how tremendously scared!_ " her mother almost choked her, then Harry and Ron also found themselves in her arms. "You saved her for me! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"I think we all want to know," said McGonagall weakly, clutching her chest.

Harry looked at them one by one and then put his sword on the desk, along with that disgusting diary of Tom Riddle that gave Ginny a shiver for a moment, then began to tell everything: talked of an disembodied voice and how Hermione had finally realized that it was the voice of the _Basilisk_ ; he talked about how he and Ron had followed spiders into the Forbidden Forest and realized that the last victim of Slytherin's heir was Moaning Myrtle; he talked about how he had guessed the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and how only he could have continued to the end; talked about Fawkes and the Sorting Hat's arrival after Tom Riddle had called out the Basilisk and ... then hesitated.

He had absolutely not talked about the diary or Ginny.

"What interests me most is how Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny when my sources tell me that he currently lives hidden in the forests of Albania" Albus Dumbledore said gently, looking at the girl who was in awe, worried.

"What was that?" asked Arthur Weasley. "You-Know-Who? Enchanted Ginny? But Ginny hasn't been ... has she?"

"It was this diary!" Harry said quickly, picking up the little book in his hand. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen"

"Brilliant," Dumbledore said quietly.

"What does Ginny have to do with ... _with him?_ " urged Mrs. Weasley panicked.

"His diary!" sobbed the girl desperately, looking at Dumbledore. "I've been writing in it… and he's been w-writing back all year…"

"Ginny, Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? _Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain._ Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother?" Mr. Weasley gasped flabbergasted. "A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"

"I-I-I didn't know ..." Ginny continued sobbing. "I found it inside one of the books Mom bought me, I th-thought someone had just left it in there and f-forgotten about it…"

"Miss Weasley should go to the infirmary right away," Dumbledore interrupted firmly. "It was a terrible ordeal for her, there will be no punishments, older and wiser men have been hoodwinked by Voldemort"

That affirmation bothered Ginny more than ever, and felt more stupid than she thought was possible.

"Bed rest and why not a big cup of hot chocolate? It always makes me feel better," he added with a wink as he opened the door. "You will see that Madam Pomfrey is still awake, distributing the Mandrake Potion ... I daresay the victims of the Basilisk are about to wake up at any moment"

Mr. Weasley accompanied his daughter outside without opening his mouth ...

It was with an oppressed heart that Ginny put on her pajamas, and slipped into the bed in the infirmary.

She noticed that it was dark, dead in the middle of the night, and the stars shone in the sky in a magnificent show, which would have been really beautiful if it had not been for all that had happened to her, for all that had happened to a naive girl.

Ginny wanted to burst, cry and scream, but she was content to let her mother's blankets mend her, and stroke her father's hair, both still shaken by the incident and unable, like her, to utter a word about it.

"Here is your hot chocolate, Miss," said Madam Pomfrey more gently.

Ginny drank her hot chocolate while her parents peered at her.

"Drink it up, honey," said her father, taking her hand while his wife turned away to keep from crying again. "Drink it up and I'm sure you'll feel anew." Do you remember when you were smaller? You always wanted it and your mother always bought it "

"Yeah," Ginny answered hoarsely. "It's really good"

"Really good, is it not?" Arthur Weasley went red in the face but was smiling. "All yours, finally, Fred, George and Ron are not here now... you've got a go ahead, aren't you happy?"

Ginny nodded, laughing lightly as a sob escaped from Molly Weasley.

After she had finished, Madam Pomfrey handed her a potion in her lap that guaranteed dreamless sleep and the girl drank it in one gulp: her last thought before drifting into sleep was gratitude for that Potion.

* * *

 **Next: All is well**

 _ **Hope you guys enjoyed it I am translating chapter 12 and chapter 11 is on the editing process, btw this is chapter 10. Please subscribe and comment.. wait, no, wrong platform; please follow and review this story.**_

 ** _~Ermory_**

 ** _Editor : Helena Heansilton_**

 ** _Original Link: ?sid=1166371 &i=1_**


	12. All is Well

**_HELLO EVERYONE! I am Helena Heansilton, your editor (If you do not wish to read my randomness please skip ahead to the story...). Ermory (the actual owner of this account) is NOT here to publish this because she claims that she's too lazy, but for a person who translated three chapters in one day those are just excuses. Even the GCSEs (I have like twice as many GCSE exams as her by the way). _**

**_Anyway, HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER! It's also the last from the second original book, hopefully it wraps everything up nicely. Enjoy!_**

 ** _Here's the stuff Ermory usually say:_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own anything, the plot and characters belong to JK Rowling, and the story is written originally by EmPotter. I just translate._**

 ** _Original Link:_** ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371#top_**

* * *

 **All is well**

The potion was an immediate success because now Ginny Weasley finally slept quietly, as quiet as she had slept for in months- perhaps years counting the times when her brothers had woken her up spitefully: it almost seemed that she had forgotten the meaning of the word 'tranquility' through the times.

When she began to wake up she felt as if she had been sleeping for days and days, for months and years. It's partly because she felt strangely rested and full in strength. She wanted to get up, she wanted to go around the house getting into trouble with her brothers and ... no, she could not, she was at Hogwarts and soon the trouble would start... the trouble. The thought of this gave the little girl's heart a painful twist, and she opened her eyes a few millimeters.

Her eyes focused on a man with glasses ...

Her father?

Ginny blinked and noticed something that glistened under the chin of the man: a silver beard, and on his crooked nose sat glasses very different from those of her father, half-moon glasses... it was Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of the school, whom she had never been so close to, and had never held a conversation with, if not considering the brief meeting in the Headmaster's office.

"Good morning, Miss Weasley," he said cordially, sitting at her bedside.

"How long have I slept?" asked the little girl, spying behind her curtains: the petrified ones must have already returned to normal.

"All evening," answered Dumbledore serenely.

It was morning. Meaning that she would have to get out of bed, and face all that there was to face ...

"I know how you feel, Ginny," Dumbledore said calmly, as if reading her mind. "I know it was a terrible situation for you, but the worst is over, you're fine, and that's what really matters: we're all happy to find you alive and well."

 _The worst is yet to come_ , thought the little girl in despair.

"Do not fear people's judgment," added the old man.

The girl felt strangely observed, and the bright blue eyes of the Headmaster seems to pierce her.

Ginny felt somewhat grateful, but the gratitude she felt toward Headmaster Albus Dumbledore seemed to fade away with the ugly thoughts that swirled through her mind.

"They should. They really should call me weak minded..." the little girl hissed quietly, furious and sad with herself. "Because I am ... because I'm weak and _he_ ... T-Tom R-R-Riddle took advantage of my weakness ..."

"Lord Voldemort has used your courage," Dumbledore replied. "And only such an act of bravery could guarantee his rebirth, only your courage, Ginny Weasley. Believe me, Voldemort is cleverly able to find suitable victims, and would not have continued with you if he was not absolutely certain of what you are. He was there to find out everything about you, just for this"

Amazed, Little Ginny opened her first sincere smile after months and months.

"What I also want to tell you is that, with these experiences, if they do not kill us, they will strengthen us," added Dumbledore politely and with a big smile. "And now, come, I don't think anyone wants to wait longer for your return. Actually, Poppy had to trouble herself chasing your brothers, Fred and George, from the Infirmary ... and ... Mr. Creevey did not seem very patient and even your other friends were not particularly willing to wait for you to wake up completely."

Albus Dumbledore gave Ginny a gentle wink, turned on his heels and walked away: Ginny looked at the hem of his cloak disappear behind the door and told herself that most likely the Headmaster was right. The experience had not killed her as it was scheduled, and this had to mean that it had made her stronger, because a terrible experience like that could not help but make her stronger.

Maybe one day she will have understood that she was strong, maybe one day she would be glad to tell everyone ...

"Oh, you're awake!" Madam Pomfrey chirped with her brisk tone. "Come on, get up, go on, I'll have to make the bed!"

That morning the Great Hall seemed to shine in all its beauty, and Ginny would have sworn that many heads had turned to her through the passage in the entrance hall, although she was not so sure of being able to cross the doors to make a breakfast worthy of the name 'Weasley'. She spied from behind the doors of the Great Hall and caught a glimpse of happy students intent to chat serenely with their friends, and all that made her cheer: perhaps they had already forgotten about what happened, and she would like that too.

Images of the Chamber of Secrets and Tom Riddle coming out of the diary returned to her mind at regular intervals, and all this was more than exasperating for the girl: who knows when would she finally be able to erase those things from her mind?

She lingered at the door for a long time, thinking back to Dumbledore's words, then inhaled deeply and entered.

The reaction was immediate: many students left their conversation in suspense and began to fix their attention at the child, who with bowed head and cheeks that threatened to become a red similar to tomatoes, walked quickly into the room with the hope of not arousing _too much_ attention from others. That was obviously impossible.

By now the whole school seemed to know it.

Many of the older students gave her great encouraging smiles, and some girls, always much older than her, gave her light pats on the slender shoulders as if they wanted to give her strength.

"GINNY!"

"GINNY!"

"BOYS, LOOK! OUR SISTER!"

The twins, Percy Weasley, Demelza Robins, Victoria Probisher, Colin Creevey, Ritchie Coote, Christopher Jones and William Todd all ran to her, as Professor Dumbledore had said, very anxious to see her and not at all ready to wait for her to proceed through the Great Hall at her pace. The first ones who threw themselves onto the girl to hold her were the twins, who almost missed their shot while crying happily. Immediately they began to shoot funny jokes one after the other until Percy drove them away to hug his little sister so pompously. Demelza and Vicky sobbed on their friend's shoulder after the brothers had finished with her, even though the twins popped up every ten seconds; Colin gave her a rib-crushing hug and cursed aloud about his camera; Christopher gave her an enthusiastic high-five; Ritchie hugged her gently and William smiled at her.

Ron beamed from the table, along with Hermione and Harry- the boy that saved her.

"Hey little sis, guess what the hag said!" shouted Fred energetically.

"Come on, it's easy!" urged George happily but Ginny had not even listened to the joke about the hag.

"I cried all afternoon!" Demelza repeated as she started sobbing again.

"I was breaking down, I swear on Merlin!" added Vicky, who was no longer crying.

"And then my heart was about to burst!"

"I didn't know what to do except trying to calm down and wait for you to return!"

"I believed the worst!"

"And I did not want to believe the worst!"

"Oh, my friend ... I thought I had lost you, how much I missed you," said Colin theatrically, raising his high-pitched voice. "Although, I must be honest ... _I did not miss anyone!_ "

The boys all burst out laughing at the Gryffindor table.

"How stupid are you?" Ginny said with a happy grimace.

"I've never felt so good in all my life, I would _not_ sleep for years!" he insisted lively.

There were more laughter.

"Colin, maybe you should shut up," Ritchie said, but smiled.

"Why? It was difficult for all of us and we need to laugh!" Christopher said amusedly.

"Ritchie is right," Demelza agreed timidly.

"And who knows why you and Ritchie always agree on everything!" Christopher snapped.

They kept brightly chatting all the way through breakfast, letting Ginny eat peacefully in the name of Godric Gryffindor. Even the twins seemed too busy in cheering up all the students to really realize that their little sister was too quiet at the table. Percy was at the Ravenclaw table next to his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, and occasionally came to his table to make sure Ginny ate all her breakfast, as Mum had instructed. Ron and Hermione kept smiling at them, and Harry did it with a certain embarrassment, which only made the little girl even more embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," a voice whispered on Ginny's right, the voice of William Todd.

Ginny nodded surprisedly.

"For how horrible I've been to you," he continued, looking at his nails. "And I wanted to ask you whether you want to be my cauldron partner again ... For the next year I mean, and until the end of this ..."

"Sure!" she accepted the little Gryffindor and smiled at him.

The morning passed in the best way and many students came personally to the girl to show their regret for what had happened and their happiness for how everything was resolved. Alice and Rose exclaimed a theatrical 'WE REALLY ARE SORRY!' before returning to being the geese again, harassing all others. Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan (the friends of Ron and Harry) began to converse with her awkwardly before declaring that they had been very sorry, even though they did not know her but knew her brother.

Ginny Weasley had returned to be the happy girl she had always been.

The rest of the semester passed quickly, and Hogwarts students did not even need to take exams, as a school treat after the critical events that had happened. Lessons continued, and even Potions seemed to improve a lot: Rose did not like the fact that William preferred to have Ginny as a partner, and the seats finally returned to the original ones assigned by Snape. The Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled since Professor Lockhart had been transferred to St. Mungo's, and Hogwarts needed yet another Defense teacher.

Ginny felt happy but strange: she knew that next year, when everything had passed, the Slytherins would bombard her with questions and would bother her endlessly about those events, but for the moment, as Demelza told her, she did not have to worry about them.

It was with joy that the girls prepared their trunks for departure.

"Promise you will write to me, Ginny," Demelza was saying as she fastened the straps of her boots, and little Weasley looked enchantedly. "I will do it, and you'll write me back, won't you?"

"Yeah, definitely!"

"That's my mascara, Rose, for Merlin's sake!" Alice screamed hysterically.

"No, that's _my mascara_!" the stubborn companion retorted. "Yours must be somewhere else around here"

"I can recognize my own tricks ..."

"The tag is still there, Alice, can't you see it's mine?"

Ginny and Demelza giggled before leaving their dormitory, dragging their trunks. For true kindness and gallantry, four boys helped their companions with the trunks: Colin and William brought the trunk of the little red-head, Christopher and Ritchie carried the trunk of Demelza, who seemed really flattered and embarrassed as Ginny realized that the her cheeks had became a shade of Weasley's red.

The departure was really very quiet but cheerful, and after hoisting the trunks onto the scarlet steam locomotive that awaited them all for a return to King's Cross station, Ginny greeted her companions, including Vicky (who had just emerged from a long conversation with some Gryffindor friends much older than her), and approached the family's two troublemakers.

"The Weasleys have to spend the journey together!" George announced affectionately, placing a kiss on his little sister's forehead, who smiled radiantly.

"Come on, Ginny, let's go to Ron, Harry and Hermione's compartment" Fred said happily.

The three joined the trio for the whole trip and together they spent some really happy moments: they played Exploding Snap until George decided to cheat and put everyone's cards in the bag and Ron began to get angry at losing every round; the _Filibuster_ fireworks of the twins broke out; and they took full advantage of the last few remaining hours in which they're allowed magic, shooting as many spells as they can to disarm each other.

Ginny noticed how good Harry was in that specialty, and gaped at him with red tomatoes on her cheeks, until Hermione coughed noisily.

They had almost reached King's Cross when Harry asked her curiously: "Ginny, what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

Fred and George immediately turned to them.

"Oh, that!" the girl giggled a tinkling laugh. "Well, Percy's got a girlfriend!"

For a moment her heart gave a somersault as Fred dropped a pile of books on George's head: Percy had made her swear that she would not tell anyone and... stupid her! But now, the damage was done and also had an immediate effect on the part of his brothers, who simply gaped at her. Who cares if she had not kept the promise, after all hadn't she just survived an attack in the Chamber of Secrets? She needed affection, and Mother would not let Percy get mad at her and also ... _In the name of Merlin, Harry had asked her!_

"She's a Ravenclaw Prefect, Penelope Clearwater," Ginny continued the gossip. "That's who he was writing to all last summer, and the entire year they met in secret all over the school. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she ... well ... when she was attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added, looking worried. Fred's expression seems as if he just found out that his birthday had arrived ahead of time.

"Definitely not!" George said, trying not to laugh.

Ginny, with the feeling that George was lying, got out of the train, letting Ron carry her trunk so gently, and immediately threw herself into the arms of her parents. While slowly pulling away, her thoughts wandered to a _particularly_ amusing summer.

All was well when it finished well.

* * *

 ** _That's it guys, hope you liked it! Sorry if I missed any small grammar mistakes (for the previous chapters too)._**

 ** _FYI, the fic doesn't end here, it actually continues through the whole series and has a total of... 79 chapters? Next chapter we'll be starting Prisoner of Azkaban and I. Am. So. Excited. Stay updated y'all!_**

 ** _Also it was fun messing around on your account, thanks Ermory!_**

 ** _~Helena Heansilton (Ermory managed to spell this wrong for the first six chapters I think)_**

 **NEXT: luck goes for all**


	13. Luck goes for all

_**Hey, Helena here, and this is your brand new chapter! Also, I'll probably be doing more of the publishing now on Ermory's account (she's not feeling well today, maybe it's the exam stress).**_

 _ **Anyway, we're starting the journey through the third book now: enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: We do not own anything, the plot and the characters belong to JK Rowling, and the original story is written by EmPotter. We just translate (and edit).**_

 ** _Original Link: ?action=printall &sid=1166371#top_**

* * *

 **Luck goes for all**

Only three weeks had passed after the Weasley kids had returned, and ever since their arrival the Burrow was once again practically _upside down_ , not to mention the fact that Percy had been locking himself in his room for a while now, only to be seen during meals. This was not particularly surprising given that the twins had begun miming kisses with each other while saying with a decidedly charming tone 'Oh, my Penelope ...', and the poor Prefect had locked his room and left his body there to rot.

Even more curious was the fact that everyone was strangely well-disposed with Ginny. Even Percy and the twins were being particularly nice to the girl and were always ready to help her, who now felt really good to be with her family again. Her mother contently prepared all her favorite dishes, and bought everything she wanted, which were way beyond the limits that the child was used to; her father listened much more to Ginny than to Percy, which seemed to cheer up the twins more than anything; and her brothers did nothing but filling her with care.

In short, whatever happened last year, it did not hurt.

"MUM, LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!" shouted Ron's voice.

Mrs. Weasley, who was then busy at the stove, ran to the window and brought an elegant tawny owl into the kitchen, who carried a letter bearing the Hogwarts seal: _strange_ , usually the letters would not arrive so early.

"Whoever this is for..." George grumbled curiously.

"For Perce, guys, go and call him!" the mother said, but nobody seemed willing to move.

"You'd be crazy to try, he would kill us! Number one rule for his room: _never_ enter unless it's absolutely necessary, that is, if someone from the family is dying or abandoning us forever or coming back from the afterlife" Fred said ironically. Ginny, who seemed to be the only one who did not bother her brother, murmured "let me do it" and rushed upstairs to Percy's room.

"PERCY!" Ginny opened the door and found her brother writing a letter, probably to _Penny_.

"Ginny ..." he sighed irritably. "What is the number one rule of my room?"

" _Never_ enter unless it is absolutely necessary," said little Weasley rolling her eyes.

"And what is it?"

"An owl, there's an owl from Hogwarts for you, in the kitchen"

Ginny and Percy went downstairs, mumbling over the fact that it's too early for Hogwarts owls, and soon found themselves in the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was trying to keep the twins away from her _Prefect's_ envelope, so that those two unfortunates would not violate his privacy, even if Hogwarts' business was all about family matters.

Percy took the letter from his mother's hands and read the contents as a badge slid from the envelope and fell to the floor with a small thud.

"Oh ... holy ... Godric ... Gryffindor ..." Fred whispered collecting the badge while Percy and Mrs. Weasley gaped at the contents of the letter.

George, Ginny and Ron seemed the only ones who did not understand anything: it must say something along the lines of the world ending.

"I WANT TO SEE, FRED!" Ginny shrieked, leaning over the table. "MUM!"

"Fred, I mean ... _I'm your twin!_ " George was furious.

"I want to see what's written in that letter too!" Ron added curiously.

"But what does that badge mean?"

"Why did they send a letter to Percy?"

"Could someone bother telling us _something_?"

"For Merlin, I'm your twin!" George reiterated between the general shouts.

"OH PERCY!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked as Percy breathed deeply in the grip of anxiety and panic at the sight of the letter and the badge. "HEADBOY, MY DARLING, HEADBOY!"

"I MADE IT, MUM, I MADE IT!" Percy screamed like a fool, franctically grabbing the Head Boy badge from the hands of Fred. "I AM _HEADBOY_ LIKE BILL, MUM!"

Ginny raised her eyebrows; Ron grinned amusedly; and the twins stared at Percy and their mother with a look none other than disgust.

It took a long time for the two to calm down and explain to the other Weasleys, but when Arthur came home the pandemonium rose again, obviously dominated by Percy, who could not wait to be praised for another of his merits received from school. Ginny and all the boys were forced to hear the story from the beginning, when the letter had crossed the kitchen, when Percy and Mrs. Weasley realized it was a letter that made Percy Head Boy, allowing him to wear a badge the same as Bill's.

"Congratulations Perce, our new Gryffindor Head Boy!" Mr. Weasley clapped his hands brightly, then stopped knowingly with a look around the room. "But that's not the only thing we have to celebrate today ... I meant to say.. _.here,_ " he took a bag full of golden galleons from behind his back and scattered everything on the table, risking another heart attack from Percy. Seven hundred galleons. As labeled on the bag. "WE HAVE WON _THE DAILY PROPHET GRAND PRIZE GALLEON DRAW_!"

Other supernatural cries echoed in the Burrow, and the family ghoul that lived in the attic beat the usual pipes, the tinkling sound seemed to make the atmosphere of pure happiness, it's as if Ireland had just won the Quidditch World Cup: Ginny was so excited, and had almost forgotten the fact that his brother Percy was a Head Boy, because of the beautiful nest of money that's scattered on the table.

Mr. Weasley and Ron were almost dancing around and the twins held each other arm in arm.

Ginny thought that nobody deserved to win a nice prize more than her family, not only because they are incredibly poor, but also because people like the Malfoys did not deserve that gold, for they are rolling into the galleons already: the girl would have loved to see the face of Draco, whose father had just been fired from the Hogwarts governor office.

The sacking of Malfoy was mostly for the events that had seen Ginny participate in during the last school year, but at this moment those were only minor, minor matters: _they had won seven hundred galleons!_

"We have to decide what to do with all that money!" said Mrs. Weasley, starting to calm down.

"We can use them for _shopping!_ " Ginny exclaimed, gasping excitedly.

She thought of herself finally in new and not second-hand clothes, and with cute and pretty ornaments going on Hogsmeade visits during her third year ... she thought of bracelets and necklaces that she could show off to the envy of Alice and Rose, and maybe to impress Harry Potter who would have appreciated her beautiful transformation and finally declared, in front of all the Weasleys, the love he felt for their youngest.

"We can use them to shop at jokes shops!" the twins said in unison.

"You know, laughter is always recommendable ..." George added hesitantly to his mother's expression.

"We can use it to buy us a new house!" shouted Ron with eyes that glistened.

"We can divide them equally among us, except for you two" Percy pointed to the parents. "You should get the majority, and the rest left to your children… or maybe I can administer those -for being Prefect and Head Boy- and keep it, so if one of the boys or Ginny needs it I will always be ..."

"Don't even think about it!" Fred snapped.

"Why Perce, so you can use them to make a nice gift for your _Penny!_ " George said, amused.

" _DO NOT CALL HER THAT!_ " Percy roared, flashing, indignant.

"What's so beautiful about you?" asked Fred. "Maybe she's boring like you and the likes attract!"

"It's opposites, Fred," George corrected him but agreed with his twin.

"Stop the boys, please," Mr. Weasley said quietly as Ginny and Ron were still doubled up with laughter. "We will use the money to have a nice vacation, what do you say Molly dear? Maybe we can go to Bill and tour around _all_ of Egypt!"

The room filled again with enthusiasm and with hearts beating a thousand times a second they launched into a lively discussion about what they would do, what they would buy: Ginny Weasley and her family were going to have a real holiday.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _I read the article in the Daily Prophet and I saw the picture of your family: I am so happy that you guys won the draw and I hope you enjoyed yourself so much in Egypt. You're already back, aren't you? Now it is only a week away from the start of school, but ... hell, in Egypt! I really hope I could go there next year, but France was also to my liking._

 _Warm kisses,_

 _Demelza._

At the _Leaky Cauldron_ , in the roomshared between her and Ron's friend, Hermione Granger, Ginny packed her stuff, closed the door of the closet, and prepared to write a letter in reply to Demelza: they had arrived here from Egypt a couple of days ago, as Ron had promised Hermione and Harry to go together in getting their stuff for Hogwarts, they had moved from the Burrow to Diagon Alley for the last few days of holiday.

Ginny Weasley's summer at her brother Bill's in Egypt had been fantastic, and she was equally happy to be finally away from a particular Egyptian boy which Ginny did not even remember the name of (it seemed that he was only sympathetic to Percy, as the twins had pointed out). Egypt was an enchanting place, and the eldest of the Weasleys had devoted whole days to his family so that everyone could visit the famous tombs: the curses that the ancient Egyptian wizards had put in there were spectacular, even if Ginny was forbidden to enter the last, the most beautiful of all, by her mother because it was full of mutant skeletons of Muggles who had managed to enter and remained enchanted, growing extra body parts such as heads.

 _Dear Demelza,_

 _I got your letter here at the Leaky Cauldron from Errol, the family owl, as usual, so I'll answer you just now._

 _Did you read the article? Oh, the picture in the newspaper was so embarrassing! I've been back a week and a bit, now living at Leaky Cauldron, where I heard that Harry Potter took a room right on my landing ... I can not wait to see him, even if I'm sure I will probably wait a lot longer._

 _Can't wait for you to tell me about France when we meet!_

 _See you soon!_

Errol flew out the window and Ginny looked at him for a moment before rushing out.

"WHERE YOU PUT MY BADGE?" Percy screamed like a little girl who lost her favorite makeup kit. "FRED? GEORGE? TAKE IT OUT NOW!"

Ever since he was elected Headboy, Percy had never stopped pulling out his _beloved_ badge and polishing it every two seconds, and the twins never missed an opportunity to make him lose his temper, despite how they had tried (but failed as they were discovered) to lock Percy up in a pyramid. At least the two of them, Ginny noted, managed to have a great deal of fun with that event, but the only one who did not seem happy about the situation was Ron, even though no one really noticed anything ...

"Here it is, honey!" Molly Weasley said gently, holding out his badge.

"Where was it hidden, Mum?" asked the youngest Weasley.

"In ... er ..." she stammered, then turned to her son. "Well, I cleaned it up, Perce, so don't worry ..."

Ginny giggled loudly, before the laugh turned into a coughing fit.

"Are you sure that _these two_ are my brothers?"

"Did you have doubts, Perce?" Fred said with a big smile.

"Come on, let's go downstairs!" Mrs. Weasley cut them off short.

Carrying large bags and pouches, she rushed down followed by four of her children, who argued all the way down the stairs, even though Ginny was rather peaceful and insisted only for the twins to _openly_ tell about the place where they had thrown the Percy's Head Boy badge, causing great fits of laughter from Fred and George.

In the bar there was a great deal of excitement, and Ginny immediately spotted Harry Potter, standing close to Ron and Hermione: he was as _beautiful_ as ever, grown, slightly taller than last year, sporting the most absolutely unruly hair and eyes of a spectacularly intense green that almost melted her, like ice cream shrinking under the summer sun.

"Hello," Ginny muttered awkwardly walking towards the boy, without meeting his eyes. The embarrassment was only made worse by the fact that he had saved her life the previous year.

"Hi, Ginny," he replied before Ginny sneaked away.

The little girl did not hear the exchange between the boy (who was currently making her hyperventilate) and her brothers, but when her mother wrapped Harry in her arms, hugging him tightly, she approached them again. Mrs. Weasley asked, indicating the badge from his son's chest: "Good morning, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard the exciting news? It's the second Head Boy in the family!"

"And the last," muttered Fred between his teeth.

"I don't doubt it, you two have not been made Prefects, as far as I know!" Mrs. Weasley frowned.

"And why should we be?" George asked, horrified by the word 'Prefect', "It would take all the fun out of life"

Ginny chuckled.

"You two want to set a better example for your sister!"

"Ginny has other brothers who can give her a good example, mother," said Percy proudly.

Being a Prefect was a good example? Although ... thinking about it, it wouldn't be so bad to be Prefect. For a moment, Ginny imagined herself in the role of the Gryffindor Prefect: Malfoy would be under her command, Harper and Astoria would be afraid of her, and Alice and Rose would be completely envious.

Ginny could punish anyone who bothered her: the sudden savagery in this thought tormented her throughout dinner.

The next morning, Ginny and Hermione were first to wake up, and they went down to the bar, where Mr. Weasley chatted away with Tom the innkeeper. He seemed to have a crush on Mrs. Weasley, as Hermione noted with real insight.

"Crookshanks! don't ..." Ginny muttered, afraid of the red cat's nails.

"Oh, come Crookshanks! Anyway, don't worry ... she's just playful!" the bushy-haired girl exclaimed proudly. "Ron says it's a horrible, crazy cat, but really, I think your brother is crazy"

Ginny laughed but seriously doubted that Crookshanks was only a little playful.

"So, have a nice dinner ... er ... breakfast" greeted Tom kissing Mrs. Weasley on the cheeks and left, chest out and almost marching, while Mr. Weasley frowned at him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh come on Arthur, you are not... _jealous_?" said Mrs. Weasley mischievously.

Ginny took a seat at the table slightly embarrassed, and Hermione joined her.

"Did I ever tell you about that day Arthur saw me preparing a _Love Potion_ that wasn't meant for him?"

"No, Mum," Ginny replied, swallowing a piece of toast.

"Please tell us, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione curiously.

Mr. Weasley hid his face behind _the Daily Prophet_.

"So," she began gloating, her face lighted with a nostalgic expression. "I was in my fourth year and my professor of Potions - _Professor Slughorn_ , I can never forget him - showed us potions, including a Love Potion. In those days, I had a little crush on a boy, and I made that potion to see what would happen if he drank it"

Ginny listened to the story curiously: she, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley began to get rather giggly.

"Then, the day I decided to steal the ingredients from Professor Slughorn's office, Arthur saw me but did not report me ..."

"Oh mum, still with that Love Potion story?" Fred said in disgust.

He had just came down the stairs, followed by George, Ron and Harry, who was looking around the bar.

"Ginny and Hermione have never heard of it, Fred!" his mother blurted, offended. "So where were we? Ah, yes ... so, from that day Arthur started to watch me a little bit and ..."

"... since he was secretly in love with you, he wanted to discover at all costs who you were going for with that Love Potion" George concluded, anticipating his mother's narrative, and Ginny nearly turned over her bowl of cereals onto a giggling Hermione.

"And he even snuck into the girls' bathroom to find out!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, giving her husband an affectionate pat, who looked around in terror.

"Who sneaked into the girls' bathroom?" asked Percy's voice, entering the bar.

" _Speaking of the devil_ " George grumbled and Ginny snorted into the milk.

"Your father!"

"Molly ..." Mr. Weasley said quietly. "It doesn't seem to me to be ... er ... the moment ... to flaunt so loudly about our past ..."

"Oh, then I'll talk more softly!" the woman answered in a perplexity.

Ginny, Hermione, Fred and George were crackling with laughter.

"If they caught you in the girls' bathroom, they'd have kicked you out of school, father," Percy glared sternly at Ron and Harry, and Ginny saw that Hermione blushed a little.

"But didn't you know about the Love Potion story, Pumpkin-head Boy?" asked Fred with a sneer.

"What happened in the end, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione said, intrigued.

"In the end Arthur sort of made a scene from his jealousy, because he found out that the potion was not intended for him and then ... well, over time I realized that we were just made for each other..."

Fred and George pretended to throw up in their bowls.

"Yes, it's all very fascinating," said Mr. Weasley, embarrassed. "Why don't we prepare for departure?"

* * *

 _ **Aaand that's the chapter! I thought it was quite a pity that the original writer didn't explore much outside the cannon narrative of the summer. And there's no Sirius yet. Regardless, it was a really fun chapter for me to work through and I hope you liked it too! :)**_

 ** _~Helena Heansilton (editor)_**

 ** _translator: Ermory_**

 **Next: The Dementor**


	14. The Dementor

**_Heyy, this is Helena, and you're new chapter is up!_**

 ** _We are going to update this story on a more regular basis now: new chapters will be published every Sunday, and occasionally on Thursdays (when we happen to have more time or when the chapters are shorter)._**

 ** _Anyways, enjoy!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: We do not own anything, the plot and the characters belong to JK Rowling, and the story is written originally by EMPotter. We just translate (and edit)._**

 ** _Original link: EFP fanficion,_** ** _?action=printall &sid=1166371#top_**

* * *

 **The Dementor**

In the chaos of the departure, Mrs. Weasley _momentarily_ forgot her story of the Love Potion. For her husband, it was a real stroke of luck, since it seemed that Mrs. Weasley was ready to go through their entire love story, from how they started dating, to seeing each other even after school, right until, as Fred told them breathlessly between laughter, the story of Bill's conception.

Fortunately, Molly Weasley was busy with other things!

They all climbed into the cars that the Ministry had provided for the Weasleys, and left at full speed towards King's Cross: they were neither late nor so early, and at the behest of Percy they were quickly ushered into the station. The memory of the last time at the station still vividly pierced their minds, as if only minutes have passed since then.

Above all was the memory of how Mrs. Weasley had been shocked when Percy, upon arrival at the station, had gone around screaming "Ten fifty-eight!" "Let's get moving, oh let's move or get going, and to hell with the Ministry and the Law of Restriction of Magic among Muggles!", and it seemed that the imagery still terrified her much, given the silly glances she threw at her son while walking towards platforms nine and ten.

"Right, let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us," said Mr. Weasley, looking around the station full of Muggles. "I'll go through first with Harry," he added, nodding at the boy to follow him.

The two of them leaned against the railway barrier apparently interested in the _InterCity_ that had just arrived at platform nine, and in a moment they disappeared beyond the wall. Then Mrs. Weasley ordered Percy and Ginny to cross.

"Oh, it's late, I'll be late for Penelope if we don't move fast!" Percy exclaimed anxiously and quickly grabbed his little sister's arm. "Come on, let's just run without getting too much attention from others!"

We certainly wouldn't be noticed, Ginny thought sarcastically.

And so the girl, led by a hurried Percy, ran at breakneck speed towards the barrier while Mrs. Weasley shouted at them to be careful: they emerged on platform nine and three quarters gasping loudly, as if they had both just ran kilometers.

"Ah, there's Penelope!" Percy began frantically stroking his hair, and turned purple as he walked over, chest puffed out to show off his Head Boy badge, to a pretty girl with dark curly hair.

Ginny caught Harry's eyes, and they both turned away to hide their laughter.

After all the Weasleys as well as Hermione have emerged onto the platform, it was the time for farewells. The children climbed into the crowded Hogwarts Express, watching the parent Weasleys from the window as they waved happily from below.

"Behave yourselves this year!" Molly cried, above all to the twins.

"See you at Christmas!" the girl said, waving her hand.

"Be good, everyone! Understood, Fred and George?"

"Of course we'll behave ... We'll swear to it..." the twins said in unison, and once their mother was out of earshot, because she was giving Harry an extra hug, they added, " _we solemnly swear that we are up to no good_ ".

Ginny laughed.

Soon everyone was on the train, which began to crawl forward slowly. Families on the platform, especially Molly, continued shouting reminders and wishes for the new year. Ginny, listening and waving, hoped that these were different from the ones of the previous year, when all those wishes dissolved into nothingness while she had been living hell in her first year. In fact, hell would be nothing compared to what she had gone through, and the girl swore to herself that if she ever needed to talk to someone she would rather stand in front of a mirror and only tell her secrets to Ginny in the mirror, as a precaution.

No more diaries in your life!

When the Weasleys shrinked into a red dot in the distance, Fred and George met up with a friend of theirs, Lee Jordan, and disappeared with him to wreak some kind of havok in the train, and Ginny was left alone with Ron, Harry and Hermione, as well as their heavy and annoying trunks.

"I need to talk to you in private," Harry's voice murmured.

Ron looked around.

"Go away, Ginny," he said sullenly to his sister, and she put up a deeply hurt face.

"Oh, that's nice of you," she retorted irritably and quickly walked away, pulling her trunk and not caring if she should crush her brother's feet: she would have sworn that Ron had turned and grimaced in pain.

Ginny walked all over the train, arm aching, cursing her brother Ron and mumbling incomprehensible phrases of which only she could hear or understand: "treating me badly once mum's gone" or, "what a shit hypocrite" or even, "has to be showing off". She kept repeating to herself all the way while finding a compartment, then a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Hello!" called Colin Creevey.

He was a little taller now, hair fell a little longer and lighter on his back, while his face was lighted with a beaming smile.

"Hi Colin!" the girl replied, momentarily forgetting her brother.

"Were you talking to yourself?" Colin asked, starting to chuckle.

"Oh ... my brother, you know ... he made me angry, but it's nothing!"

"Perfect, the others are all here, follow me!"

Colin led his friend to the front of the train, where the air gradually grew quieter as they moved away from the tail where the twins and the trio were. He opened a compartment full of second-year Gryffindors: Demelza Robins, Ritchie Coote, Christopher Jones and William Todd all smiled at her from ear to ear and wasted no time in inviting her to sit down with them.

Helped by Colin, Ginny hoisted her trunk on the rails, and sat down in front of Demelza.

"So," Colin urged briskly, "how were your holidays? And where did you go?"

"Have not you read _the Daily Prophet_?" Ginny boasted, rolling a strand red hair with her finger playfully.

"My parents are muggles, I don't read wizard newspaper," Colin answered, confused. "My parents would seriously run away screaming if they saw that the pictures in your newspapers move like in real life!"

The boys burst out laughing and Ginny looked down at her hands, slightly embarrassed.

How could she be so stupid?

"So, You went to Egypt, tell us how it was!" Christopher said perkily.

"Oh, Egypt ..." Demelza started dreamily. "your picture was in _the Daily Prophet_ : it's simply magnificent!"

"I read _the_ _Prophet_ too!" Ritchie declared, smiling.

"And we certainly don't know that," Christopher replied with an amused grimace.

"Why precisely is it Egypt?" asked William curiously.

"So how do wizards spend their holidays?" Colin asked eagerly. "Come on, tell it!"

And so Ginny told her friends about her beautiful holiday in Egypt with her brother Bill, and everyone was very interested, even if it took quite a bit of time and embarrassment from Ginny to tell how she was afraid to enter the huge _pyramids_ : at this the boys giggled loudly, and Christopher declared that he would never be afraid, for how fun the experience could be.

After Ginny's _beautiful_ narration, Demelza dived into the _Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two_ of Miranda Goshawk, while Christopher and William played wizard chess. Ritchie was cheering along and helping Christopher, and Colin chatted with Ginny even if the girl did not have much desire to listen to him: she was almost sleepy.

"Oh, well ... will someone listen to me?" Colin finally burst out when Ginny's attention was elsewhere.

"THE HELL, CHRIS! HOW MUCH DO YOU CHEAT!" William cried, ignoring his companion.

Colin told himself that this was a lost cause.

When the rain started drumming on the train's windows and the wind howling out loud, Victoria Probisher made her way into their compartment: now more and more pretty, with a curtain of even blonder long hair and a heavy tan, she seemed to emanate a brilliant aura throughout the compartment, which was lit only by small torches in the darkness.

"Oh, where were you?" asked Demelza curiously.

"I was in the compartment of Eloise, Johanna, Julie and Bonnie," Vicky replied as the boys lazily raised their heads.

"Julie, who?" asked Christopher quickly.

"Juliette Collins, from Hufflepuff," the blonde replied. "And guess what? Johanna Roberts is dating a really cute Ravenclaw older than her! I don't remember his name ... something like ... Terry Steeval, I think"

"But... this girl ... she didn't like Harry Potter?" Ginny asked, secretly relieved that Johanna was dating, and she thanked Terry Steeval's beauty for taking her.

"Not anymore, now he's all yours"

Colin turned with surprising speed and looked at the girl with wide open eyes alighted in curiosity: the chess board slided onto the ground and all the chess pieces fell with a loud clatter, before Ritchie accidently set his foot on the pile and broke them into pieces. Demelza seemed to remember that Colin was not aware of the fabulous love story of Ginny, since he was not really around at the great revelation on Valentine's Day, because she turned away and hastened to fix the chessboard for the boys with a practised _Reparo_.

"Now he's all yours?" Colin repeated, scratching his head, surprised that no one else found this speculative.

"She likes Harry Potter," Christopher answered briskly, annoyed at the fact that they had to start the game from scratch.

"YOU LIKE HARRY POTTER?"

Colin was visibly shocked.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked Vicky, suddenly quieting herself.

"Certainly not!" Ginny exclaimed, slightly annoyed.

"Calm down Ginny, nothing special, pretty much the whole school knows about it, and now Colin does too, right? We're all friends and these things go around pretty quickly, and honestly it's fine," said Christopher, trying to make her think. Ginny clenched her fists.

Ritchie and William did not seem like they wanted to join the party - they were more occupied with their chess pieces.

They remained silent for a few seconds, throwing glimpses at eachother, then the train shuddered and began to sharply lose speed: the lights went out and a complete darkness fell. There was a tremendous jolt, and Vicky squeezed over Ritchie as the chessboard fell again from the seat. William cursed under his voice as Christopher waved weakly.

"Why did we stop?" Colin asked, looking around the darkness.

"Maybe we've arrived..." Ginny said, even though the trip had seemed extraordinarily short.

"We can't be there yet!" decreed Demelza.

"Maybe there's an engine failure," Ritchie suggested.

"We won't have to miss much, anyway... we should be close to Hogwarts now," William murmured, spying out the window into complete darkness.

Then something moved again: dark shadows sliding outside.

"I'm going to ask the driver," Vicky announced bravely and Colin followed her towards the front of the train.

"Me too ... I'm going to check ..." Ginny said, determined to find the trio's compartment.

She walked all the way back, through the quickest way she could find, through the students that came out of the compartments to see what was going on. Some had their noses squeezed in the windows to see something besides that strange whirling mist: Ginny hoped with all the heart that the train did not jump into the air or anything, because she was really about to do it.

The trio always knew everything and that time would not have been different, so she opened the last compartment with hopes of being able to understand more of this situation, even though how her brother last treated her still annoyed Ginny: a dark shadow stood in front of her and Ginny shrieked.

"Who are you?"

"Who are _you_?"

"Ginny?"

Oh, how could she be so stupid? The shadow looked like a girl, and those bushy hair were particularly recognizable, even in the dark:

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

 _What am I doing?_ Ginny wondered desperately.

"I was looking for Ron" she threw off.

"Come in and sit down"

"Not here, I'm here!" said Harry's voice quickly, and Ginny bounced off embarrassedly with purple cheeks that would glow even in the dark - Harry must have been on the seat she was about to sit down in.

Next to Harry, she found Ron's hand and sat down in the seat next to him, but on something hard ... like a leg ...

"Ouch!" groaned the unfamiliar voice of the trio's friend, Neville Longbottom.

"Quiet!"

A hoarse voice from a man different from Neville's resounded in the compartment.

Someone was moving in a corner, right in front of Ginny and the girl identified a man: he was holding a handful of flames for lighting, which brightened his watchful eyes and gray, tired face.

"Stay where you are," he said in the same husky voice, and got up to open the compartment door.

But the door of the compartment was never opened by him, indeed, it seemed that no one had touched it: as the door slid open an incredible frost spread through the compartment, freezing the blood in her veins, and Ginny almost felt sick because there was a threshold figure, very different from the shadow of Hermione which Ginny was found in front of, a figure much more menacing, wrapped in a black cloak.

Suddenly, the memories of what happened in the Chamber of Secrets crossed Ginny's mind like in a fast-forwarded movie, and she could not help but tremble like a leaf in the storm, even if she wanted to scream at that _thing_ , whatever it was, to stop it ...

Tom Riddle's voice echoed in her head, along with screams… her screams of fright ...

What the hell was happening?

The figure held out a hand, slimy and wrinkled as if dead, and drew a long, slow breath as if trying to breathe in more than just the air. It rushed onto Harry, who stiffened instantly.

"None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks ... Go!" the man shouted, making everyone jump, but the thing did not move. "Expecto Patronum!" the man added.

That time, the big creature disappeared. The instant when something silver came to meet it, it was made to move back and go away. Meanwhile, Harry had fallen from the seat and began to twitch strangely, as if he was living the worst nightmare of his life.

The train jerked slightly, the lights came back on and Hogwarts Express began to move again.

Sirius Black? What did Sirius Black have to do with it?

Maybe ... that creature ... was a guard of Azkaban, the wizard's prison?

Ginny lowered her head, thinking of all that, as well as how she had seen her nightmares … and it seems, so had Harry...

"Harry!"

"Harry, Harry, are you feeling well?"

"W-What?"

Ron and Hermione helped the boy get back onto his seat.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked him.

"Yeah, what happened, where is that ... that thing, who was screaming?"

"Nobody screamed," said Ron, very pale.

"What was that thing?" the boy insisted.

"A Dementor," the man replied, introducing himself to everyone as Professor Lupin and started distributing chocolate to everyone in the compartment. "One of the guards in Azkaban, it was patrolling the train for Sirius Black, I need to speak to the driver, excuse me ..."

Professor Lupin passed the boys and walked out of the compartment as unrestrained questions crowded into the girl's mind: so that suspicion is confirmed, but why had she seen those bad things again?

Ginny and Neville decided to leave the compartment and go back to theirs to warn their friends, and they walked through the whole train without exchanging a word, because they were both so terrified of what had just happened.

Then Neville broke the silence, still shaken.

"I had heard that Azkaban guards were horrible, but never like that," he admitted.

"Me too ... I would never have believed ..." Ginny murmured. "Now I believe how everyone goes crazy in Azkaban: I saw the horrible things of last year and I don't even know why ..."

Neville looked at her and there was something more in his eyes, as if he could understand the little girl: could the stuttery, shy Neville Longbottom really understand her? And why did Ginny admit to him what the Dementor had done to her? Maybe because that chubby guy inspired some sort of confidence... maybe because he knew even if she never opened her mouth to anyone ...

"Well, well, well ... look who's here!" a shuffling voice began, cutting off Ginny's train of thoughts.

Neville turned, frightened.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"Longbottom and Weasley, it's a pity that Weasley likes Saint Potter ... _too late_ , Longbottom!" Draco Malfoy scoffed at them with a malicious grin and laughed like an idiot with his two bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Shut up!" Ginny growled angrily.

"Oh, look at you, all pale and sweaty ... _bleah_ " the boy continued mocking, grimacing. "Those bad dementors have scared you so much, haven't they, but you were with Potter, I mean, he sure would have saved your life!"

"You shut it, Malfoy!" Neville retorted with a menacing look. "Nobody saved our lives, we were in danger and anyone could have fallen from the seat like Harry did!"

" _Did Potter fall from his nappy?_ "

Malfoy seemed like he had just found out that his birthday arrived ahead of time, and Neville cupped his mouth, but too late: Malfoy ran toward the end of the train, followed by the other two giggling idiots, and disappeared. Surely Neville did not mean to do it on purpose, but for the entire rest of the walk he was completely mortified, and did not mutter a word.

It was almost a relief to reach her friends' compartment and throw herself onto the seat.

"What happened?" Demelza asked, audibly scared.

"I've been looking for you for at least ten minutes!" Vicky was outraged.

"There were Dementors here ... in the train ..." little Weasley murmured and everyone held their breath, except for Colin and Christopher who seemed profoundly confused. "I saw it, a dementor..."

"Sorry but, what are they?" Christopher asked politely as Colin scratched his head.

"Dementors," replied Demelza promptly. "The horrendous guards of Azkaban, they can drive you crazy"

"Really?" asked Colin.

"I'M TELLING YOU, I'M" shrieked Vicky furiously.

"And what were these ... these guards doing here?" Christopher asked.

"They are the guards of Azkaban," Demelza repeated.

"And do they believe they can find Sirius Black in this train?" William said, bewildered.

"That's not very logical, is it? The driver would have seen Sirius Black entering the train!" Ritchie burst out.

"But still ... guards are guards... they had to check!"

"And did you see them?"

"Only one ..."

"That's why you're like that ..." Colin began, but Ginny interrupted him.

"What am I like?"

"Well, you've got this face ... I mean, you're really pale"

"What are you talking about? Look at her, she's more than pale!" exclaimed Vicky, studying her face. "You look scary, good heavens!"

The children opened a smile, but they came back to being serious when they noticed Ginny's particularly hurt expression: so, a girl who just had a close encounter with a disgusting creature, was it scary?

"All right, let's go back to it ..." Colin cut short. "So, what did the Dementor do?"

"It went all cold and the Dementor it ... threw itself on Harry and he ..."

"Wait, you didn't tell us you were in Harry Potter's compartment!" Vicky exclaimed wickedly.

"Oh, so you _really_ like Harry Potter!" said Colin with a smile.

That last little bit of the trip passed in general giggles about how Ginny had gone to Harry's compartment to see how her lover was... and things like that ... it certainly was not the best trip the girl has had on the Hogwarts Express.

* * *

 _ **That's it, hope you liked it- the story is moving quite quick, we're on the fifth chapter in POA already. Ermory is translating the next chapter already and it will be up on Sunday as promised!**_

 _ **~Helena Heansilton (editor)**_

 _ **translator (and owner of this account): Ermory**_

 **Next: Ginny's Second Year**


	15. Ginny's Second Year

_**Ok guys here is the new chapter as promised. Plus I'm back, Helena won't have internet for a while, she is moving :(. I'll miss her but she will still edit and stay in contact with me. So without further ado here is the next chapter.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own the writing or the plot. This all belongs to EmPotter and JK Rowling. I just translate.**_

 _ **The original story is on EFPfanfic, called Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia**_

* * *

 **Ginny's second year**

Ginny and her friends sat at the Gryffindor table and were eating the welcoming banquet the school had prepared for the students: a banquet nothing short of delicious. Hogwarts feasts were medicine against all evil, especially those implanted in Ginny by the Dementors, which many students had seen towering near the school entrances as if they were guarding something.

The girl wondered if they really believed that Sirius Black, that crazy killer who mysteriously escaped from Azkaban before any other person, who they had read so much about during the holidays, could really penetrate the castle.

"Where's Potter?" shouted Draco Malfoy's voice at the Slytherin table. "And where's Potter's little friend? Did that ugly dementor scare him so bad that he ended up at the Hospital Wing on the first day of school? Sure he did, eh?"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy!" Ron growled, sitting alone at the table.

"You were not so brave when you got scared and ran into our compartment!" George pricked him.

"Cowardly wimp!" Fred added with a grimace, evidently disgusted.

Ginny wondered where Harry and Hermione were.

"How on Earth did you know?" Colin furiously glared at Malfoy.

"Neville," Ginny explained sadly, as Demelza and the others leaned forward to hear. "That chubby boy with... a round face, down there, do you see him? Well, he ran away ..."

"Oh, I would not want to be Harry Potter," Vicky replied quickly, and Ginny nodded.

"Those god-damn Slytherins ..." Christopher muttered, "they really have it with Harry Potter, don't they?"

"Because he's famous, Chris," Ritchie said.

"And because all the girls in the school, and now even the boys including Colin, they literally slobber on him!" Christopher added and the boys giggled as Colin snorted loudly, amused.

Ginny was particularly annoyed, but at that moment before anyone could reply to the boy's comment, Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school who emanated great energy despite his age, stood up from the teacher's table and began to speak to them: he seemed the same as always, and the girl vividly remembered the memory of her talk with Dumbledore several hours after the frightening events in the Chamber of Secrets.

Ginny would never forget what Dumbledore had done for her and said to her at that time.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" he said. "As you all know after the search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is playing hosts to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

"That's exactly what we needed!" William whispered hoarsely, annoyed.

"They are guarding all the entrances. As long as they stay with us, I want it to be clear that nobody is to leave school without permission," Dumbledore resumed and his eyes lingered on Ron, Harry, Hermione (who slipped in just before Dumbledore started talking) and the twins, "I, therefore, warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors,"

Percy, seated a little farther on, pushed his chest outward to show his flamboyant Head Boy badge, and cast haughty, authoritative looks all around. Ginny chuckled, and Demelza raised her eyebrows, confused, and Ginny pointed to her brother.

"My brother ... spent the whole summer polishing the badge: it's terrible!"

Her friends burst out laughing.

"He's Penelope Clearwater's boyfriend, isn't he?" Vicky said, as always very well informed.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year," said Dumbledore with more enthusiasm. "First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Ginny loudly applauded the man who was in the compartment with her, while many were not of her opinion: there was little and unenthusiastic applause, but the professor, who looked shabby and was in tattered clothes, smiled affably.

"He gave us chocolate!"

"What?" said Colin.

"He was in the compartment with us," Ginny explained, pointing to herself and the others, "he saved us from the Dementor!"

"Really? A professor in the Hogwarts Express?" Demelza asked.

"I didn't know-" Ritchie began but Christopher interrupted him.

"Professors cannot travel with students ... that's strange!"

"Well, it's unusual," Demelza said, trying to reason under all the noise. "Did anyone make this a rule?"

"It doesn't have to be a rule," said Colin.

"Demelza is right, guys ..." Ritchie muttered, embarrassed.

"OF COURSE YOU SHOULD SAY SO, IDIOT!" shrieked Vicky.

"Don't start," said William, amusedly, and Ginny nudged him in the elbow: "You haven't seen who has become profes ... oooh, Hagrid's became a professor! Too bad that we only start Care of Magical Creatures next year."

"Professor Hagrid?" Vicky looked shocked.

"That's news ..." Demelza looked doubly shocked.

"I like Hagrid!" Colin commented cheerfully, and Ritchie nodded vigorously while applauding.

Ginny had the impression that only she, Colin, William, and Ritchie really liked Hagrid.

The rest of the feast was more than delicious, dominated by the cheerful chatter of the students and the clinking of silver cutlery: Ginny was delighted to be back again but her eyes were closing from need of sleep, and she couldn't wait to get on to her four-poster bed and fall asleep right until next morning. Half-asleep, little Weasley caught a glimpse of Alice and Rose trying to talk to the new Gryffindor kids as well as with some older students, and successfully, she would add, which Vicky obviously also noticed.

"Do they think they are special?" she had asked sullenly, and Ginny had laughed.

Yes, Alice and Rose felt really special, but this year Ginny would not let the two get the upper hand, even if she would have preferred to make peace with everyone, instead of having fights with the two girls who would share the room with her, Demelza and Vicky up to their seventh year: Merlin, they still had five full years!

After dinner, Percy accompanied the swarm of Gryffindors to the Tower, and had announced the new password "Fortuna Major!": Ginny had heard Neville swear quietly and wondered if it was true that the boy really had poor short-term memory, as his brother Ron had said before she came to Hogwarts.

"Aaaah, home sweet home!" Vicky started once she's in the dorm and threw herself headlong into her bed.

Demelza sat composed, with her hands crossed behind her head, as Ginny almost hugged her bed.

"I missed you!" Vicky continued singing.

"Hello everyone," Alice greeted authoritatively, glancing at Ginny.

"Good evening girls," Rose echoed with a smile. " _Splendid_ evening, is not it?"

"Yes, really _admirable_ " replied Demelza in the same tone.

Vicky and Ginny shared glances before the blonde slid her head under the pillow.

Yes, that was just the right start to the year.

The next morning, however, things did not go well for little Ginny Weasley: her two enemies and dorm mates had started to take matters into their own hands, as if they wanted to make her pay for the bad things that had happened last year, or for taking possession of the boy who, let's say, supposedly liked Rose.

"Ignore, just ignore them. Their whiny little arrows don't hurt anyone," Demelza had said, rather wisely.

When Ginny, Demelza and Vicky crossed the threshold of the Great Hall, they immediately saw something that caught their attention: Draco Malfoy at the center of a small group of Slytherins, including Harper and Astoria from second year, and he performed a ridiculous swooning fit: the fainting of Harry Potter in the Hogwarts Express.

"Oh, what an unbearable nuisance," Vicky said, snorting.

Neville greeted Ginny with a wave of his hand as she passed with her friends to reach the others: the girl smiled at him and waved back, then approached him to ask how he was because he looked really low and melancholy.

"Hello, how are you?" Ginny asked Neville.

"Oh, I'm fine ... I'm sorry for Harry, I mean ... it was an accident"

"Yeah, you didn't do it on purpose" the girl agreed quickly. "It will go away"

"Neville, are you coming?" Seamus asked him, standing up.

"Divination is in the North Tower," Dean added.

"Coming," Neville replied, "see you, Ginny!"

The girl waved again and walked towards the rest of her friends, who were immersed in a conversation about the time tables, which Demelza talked about with great excitement. To Ginny's delight, she only had one hour of Defense against the Dark Arts that morning with Professor Lupin, and this cheered her very much: Lupin seemed so expertly and certainly very - very much! - different from Lockhart, who knows what had happened to him.

After a peaceful breakfast, with the ringing of the bell, they all left together to the Defense classroom: who knows what Professor Lupin had prepared, given that this year they would have real defense lessons, and not like the stuff that were taught to them the vain and idiotic Gilderoy Allock, Order of Merlin third class and so on ...

Ginny sat in front of the class and Demelza sat down next to her: in front of them was a wardrobe.

"Take a third chair ... come on Chris, here it is"

"I don't want to be in the centre!"

"Chris, you sucker, ha-ha-ha!"

Alice and Rose laughed then the wardrobe moved and almost fell to the ground.

"What was it?" Alice squeaked, terrified.

The others also looked around cautiously as Colin stood up to face the wardrobe.

"Don't open it!" Ginny said, sitting up in her chair. "What do you think that ...?"

"Good morning, all," said the voice of Professor Lupin, who was entering the classroom, as shabby as Ginny had seen him, and he had an almost sick expression on his dug face: it looked like the expression she had the previous year, and she wondered what could go wrong with a capable teacher like him. Alice and Rose commented on his clothes in a very low voice. "Please put your books, quills and parchment away: today we will do a practical lesson and you will only be needing your wands"

Ginny raised her eyebrows in joy, Demelza leaned back in her chair and Colin bounced up and down in his seat. They glanced curiously at each other because it was the first time they had a real defence lesson, except for when Professor Lockhart had been tempted to open the cage of Pixies.

"I think the topic 'Boggarts' is a good start with the second and third years," Lupin said, looking at them with reciprocated curiosity: everyone was delighted and Demelza was bouncing in her chair. "Well, who can tell me what a Boggart is?"

Demelza raised her hand and Lupine encouraged her to speak.

"Nobody knows," she answered, embarrassed but sure of herself. "A Boggart is a shapeshifter: they take on the appearance of a particular thing that a person fears the most, so the Boggart is in there ... has not yet taken shape."

"Very well!" Lupin praised her with a big smile. "Nobody knows what form a Boggart takes when it is alone, but as soon as I open the closet door, it will take the form of whatever most frightens the person in front of it. The spell to repel a Boggart works because the thing that defeats A Boggart is laughter, and each of you must make him take on a form that you find particularly amusing: the spell is _Riddikulus_ , try without wands!"

" _Riddikulus_!" they said in chorus.

"Very good, really good, well, now all get in a line: I want you to imagine the thing that scares you the most and turn it into something funny!" said Professor Lupin cheerfully, encouraging the students, who lined up, some excited like Colin, other rather uneasy like Ginny.

Someone would ask: why did Ginny Weasley have to be so nervous?

Well, simple. What scared her most? Spiders? Certainly not, she was not her brother Ron who as soon as he saw a little spider, runs away as if possessed by the devil! What could ever really scare her? Having a bad grade at school like Percy? Absolutely not, that was the last of her concerns.

So, what?

Was she not afraid of anything, like the twins? But not really likely...

Perhaps the name Tom Riddle, that meant something to her: yes, the most fearful thing in the world, after the horrible experience of the previous year, was the charming 16-year-old who had enchanted her, possessed her for his purposes; deceived, humiliated and deluded her by becoming a friend, listening to her and giving her advice of every kind. A persuasive boy who apparently could have seemed absolutely harmless, normal... but concealed a evil aura around him.

And obviously, he was the young Lord Voldemort.

And Ginny Weasley was terribly afraid of the young Lord Voldemort.

"Come on Ritchie, you start!" the professor encouraged him and Ritchie stepped forward, a little uncertain.

Professor Lupin opened the closet door and suddenly a Banshee, a witch on the moors, walked threateningly towards the boy, while Alice and Rose held each other almost by the hand: Ritchie looked really scared but when Lupin urged encouragingly, he raised his wand, pronounced the spell, and caused the Banshee's hair to wrap around it, making twirls and patterns.

Everyone laughed.

"Funny, Ritchie! The next ... you, Colin!"

A big snake materialized in the class and someone screamed.

" _Riddikulus_!" Colin cried bravely and the snake hanged by his tail.

And then a threatening Professor McGonagall was advancing towards Demelza, saying that she had been rejected from Hogwarts because she was too stupid to continue school... _crack_ , a dragon roared in the classroom and Vicky turned it into an adorable teddy bear. _crack_ , a horrible mouse squeaked next to William's feet ... _crack,_ again the Banshee ...

"Genevra, finish it!

Ginny flickered forward and in a moment the Banshee turned into the beautiful boy who had filled her nightmares, and there was total silence: no one seemed wanting to laugh anymore, asn they observed the greatest fear of Ginny- intrigued and at the same time worried. Professor Lupin's eyes went from Riddle to Ginny, who seemed absolutely paralyzed; Demelza's eyes were wide, and she had probably already guessed everything; the others were terribly confused and did not know what to think; Alice and Rose almost drooled for Tom Riddle.

"R-ri ..." Ginny stopped: she could not say a single word because her tongue had frozen and she could not think of anything other than the nightmares and the name of the boy that filled them, she could not think what to do. "Rid ... R-Ri ..."

All eyes were focused on the girl, then Professor Lupin stood in front of her to catch the attention of the Boggart, which now turned into a kind of crystal ball: Lupin made it a balloon that flew around making a funny noise, and the whole class laughed except for little Weasley, who was on the edge of fainting.

Her morals were in tatters. The scornful laughter of Alice and Rose, who now believed Ginny was afraid of the males, did not help.

Nobody had asked the girl anything about her Boggart, no one had dared to ask a single question, no one had breathed about the thing that cast poor Ginny into pure melancholy, who had been forced to see her old manipulator again. Who knows what Professor Lupin thought... certainly he would talk to Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall.

"Tell me something, Genevra: what makes you most afraid in the world?" Alice and Rose were always curious about stifling chuckles, which everyone found extremely annoying.

The Gryffindor Common Room was too cheerful to study in that morning, when everyone enjoyed talking about the new and experienced Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and his very interesting lessons. Ginny shared their thoughts but because the first lesson had been a total fiasco for her, she was not willing to talk to anyone.

Demelza had retired to the library with Vicky while Ginny had preferred to take a walk instead of studying: that year seemed to have started in the worst way...

"Hey there little sis!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

Ginny turned to face the twins, who were holding a sheet of parchment.

"What are you doing here?" the girl asked aggressively.

"We can ask you the same question," George replied, slightly offended by that tone.

"How come you're not studying?" asked Fred in a perfect and disturbing imitation of Percy.

"I was just annoyed ..." she snorted.

"Join us for a new exploration - the nth! - of the Hogwarts castle!" exclaimed George brightly.

"No thanks"

"What? you are apathetic ... don't become like that boring Percy, eh!" he shouted after Fred before disappearing around the corner with his twin, both baffled by their sister's behaviour.

Ginny sighed: what a beautiful year had begun.

* * *

 **Next: Sirius Black in the castle?**

 _ **Ok y'all, hope you have a nice week and wish me luck for my Science GCSEs and my History GCSE on Mao's China.**_

 _ **UPDATE: We probably will NOT have a second update this week because we are super busy...**_

 _ **~Ermory**_

 _ **Editor: Helena Heansilton she's the best person ever and my best friend everybody applaud her for her efforts on this story.**_


	16. Sirius Black in the Castle?

_**Hello guys Helena is back :) (bless mall wifi) Also, everyone applaud Ermory for finishing her GCSEs (I still have one on Tuesday aaahh). Anyway, we've got the new chapter for you!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: We don't know anything. The characters and plot belong to JK Rowling, the original story is written by EmPotter. We just translate and edit.**_

 _ **The original story is on EFPfanfic, called ' Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'**_

* * *

 **Sirius black in the castle?**

In no time, Professor Lupin's lectures became the most discussed topic at Hogwarts. For many girls, they did nothing but talk about him, his kindness, how different he was from the other teachers… and Ginny also thought so, she had thought so since he had seen her expression in front of her Boggart, or even earlier, since he had given them chocolate in the train.

To the relief of the girl, the next lessons were not about the Boggart, but on other creatures, with which they enjoyed taking notes, inspecting them and learning about all their features.

Unsuspectingly, October had came, and Halloween was drawing closer and closer. Ginny hoped it would not be like the previous one: even by now, little Weasley still hate that Halloween night to death, and she probably will hate it forever.

"Why would anyone to have _Mangrates_?" Vicky said, annoyed, as she cleaned herself of dirt in the girls' bathroom on the seventh floor.

"Mandrakes" Demelza corrected her, amused.

It's Halloween day, and in Herbology they had just studied the Mandrakes. That lesson had particularly pleased Ginny, who, despite being quite disgusted by those living roots, loved Herbology in the Third Greenhouse.

"For company, I guess," Ginny replied sarcastically, and Vicky laughed.

"The screaming! I was about to faint ..."

"Did you put your earmuffs wrong?" Demelza asked, rubbing her cheeks reddened by the earmuff scratches.

"I really think so"

"I felt strange too: I must have put it on bad, the earmuffs ..." mumbled Ginny, who was having a severe headache that reminded her of the shrieking of her Mandrake, as if only seconds have passed.

Demelza started to reply when the sound of a sob came from outside.

"I-I cannot b-believe it ..." a third year Gryffindor girl rushed through the door, followed by a friend of hers, who seemed very sorry. They didn't pay any attention to the three girls, who watched her crying under the door with a mixed feeling of concern, curiosity and embarrassment.

"Let's not cry, come on, wipe these tears," her friend told her softly.

"Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil," Vicky whispered to the others, well informed about everyone at Hogwarts Castle. "Of course it's because of Harry Potter and your brother, if I'm not mistaken. And for sure I wouldn't be mistaken… I'm going to see what happened!" she added audaciously.

"Maybe it's their business..." Demelza grumbled in annoyance.

"They're just talking to each other, Dem, nothing wrong with that, right?" Ginny said with a shrug.

"S-she had s-s-said it!" sobbed Lavender Brown. "H-hi Vic ..." she added, sniffling.

"Hey, Vicky" Parvati greeted her.

"Girls, what happened?" Vicky asked anxiously, being careful not to look too curious.

"Keeps crying like a fountain for days, poor girl," said Pavarti thoughtfully, putting her arm around her friend's shoulders and looking at her with apprehension, "got a letter from home: her rabbit was killed by a fox"

"Oh!"

"I- oh- I should have known, I-I should have seen it coming!" Lavender exclaimed tragically. "The Divination teacher said 'that thing you're dreading will happen on the sixteenth of October', she had predicted it!"

Ginny's eyes widened and turned to Demelza, who seemed extremely skeptical.

"And Hermione Granger has been making speeches that make no sense..." Parvati muttered, "but Ron Weasley was really a lot more understanding, probably because he's arguing with Hermione for her cat constantly trying to kill his rat."

Vicky stayed with Lavender and Parvati for another couple of minutes, while Ginny tried not to give away that she was eavesdropping on their conversation: so... Hermione and Ron had been fighting over that nonsense? Just because Crookshanks was a little lively, and as a cat had the instinct to hunt mice... including the rat Scabbers, who was in her family since almost before her.

Demelza seemed extremely skeptical against the Divination, but Vicky and Ginny did not share her belief: Why does it matter if the divination teacher, who had foreseen the killing of Lavender's rabbit, was or was not a true Seer? Afterall, Dumbledore would not have hired her if she was completely useless, as unreasonable a person as she is. But Demelza had continued with the usual statements of Divination being an imprecise branch of magic, Hermione Granger being right... so the two girls told each other that maybe it was better to change the subject.

"So what's been going on with you and Harry Potter?" Vicky asked once out of the bathroom, while the three of them headed to the Great Hall, followed by the boys who ran into them amid a lively discussion about the Boggarts, which unpleasantly aroused Ginny's memories.

"Nothing," the girl answered gloomily.

"WHAT? YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOUR GREATEST FEAR IS A BANSHEE!"

"But does this seem to be the case?" William snapped, exasperated.

"William is right!" Demelza said, who was eavesdropping on the boys' conversation.

"But how come? You should try get his attention, you know?" Vicky turned back to Ginny, ignoring the others.

"I do that all the time!" Ginny objected angrily, watching Harry walk the corridor in front of them, strangely alone - lucky for Colin Creevey, who was still wandering around with his Muggle camera! "Only that he always has better things to do, I never know when to go for even a _damn_ greeting! It's bloody hell impossible!"

"I don't think you couldn't even make a simple greeting..." Demelza began timidly but the redhead interrupted her with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, 'course not!," she snapped.

"Can I say what I think? I think you shouldn't be changing yourself too much just to draw his attention: just act normally around him, don't get caught up in emotions, or panic when he talks to you, or stare and lose your mind and..."

"Say hello now, come on," Vicky encouraged, "he's alone, he doesn't have anything to do"

"But he's reading, he seems really focused!" Ginny is rather desperate, unable to look away from him, then noticing Vicky's exasperated expression- she had raised her eyebrows high enough to reach heaven - Ginny continued, "but you're probably right, I have to say hello ... _just for manners and niceties_..."

"I take that as a thank you for the advice, but I prefer to be getting on with my own things, he-hem ..." said Demelza, coughing slightly.

Ginny approached the boy, who had his eyes on a book that looked like _Quidditch Through the Ages_ ,and she tried to get his attention by waving a hand in greeting, but he did not notice it. Then, when the boy passed her with slow steps as in a funeral march she touched his unfastened scarf held it loosely, but Harry Potter remained focused without noticing anything, the attention always on his book, which was apparently much more interesting than the little Weasley, and walked on as the disappointed girl stayed behind.

"SEE?" she snapped at Vicky's alarming stare.

"Oh- that's why Harry Potter was alone!"

Ginny's eyes widened, then she set them on an unspecified spot in the Gryffindor Common Room. Her expression softened, she became blissful, compassionate, as if she had just seen two sweethearts declare their love in front of teachers and students, straying from judgment of others: Harry was sad because he was the only third year who had not gone to Hogsmeade.

Vicky had heard from Lavender and Parvati that they would spend the whole day there to distract Lavender from her rabbit. The second years had seen him that afternoon, hesitating to join them, under pressure of Colin insisting with the boy: Ginny felt deeply sorry for everything she had thought about Harry. It was not his fault that he didn't have parents who could sign him permission to go to Hogsmeade ...

"You can always try again, can't you?"

"Of course ..." the red-hair answered dreamily.

Demelza rolled her eyes.

"Colin, why are you ruining that poor guy's existence?" Christopher asked, "he did not want to join us!"

"Of course he didn't, you only had eyes for his scar ..." muttered Demelza amusedly, getting up and stretching, "I can't blame him"

"I did not look at the scar!" Colin objected indignantly.

" _Please!_ " Ritchie exclaimed skeptically. "You wouldn't look at anything else!"

"I do not..."

"Admit it!" William and Vicky said in chorus as Demelza chuckled softly.

"But look, he puts Harry Potter in awe!"

"I do not ..."

"He will deny until death, I tell you"

"I have only a deep admiration towards him!"

"Nonsense ..." William muttered between his teeth, while the others were laughing at the craziness of that statement (Christopher was now slumped on the ground, holding his stomach), before receiving a pillow from Colin, who also laughed.

"At least he ... er ... had the good sense not to have screamed in front of everyone in the Common Room ..." Demelza said, and Colin refrained from throwing a pillow straight into her head.

"Ooooooh" Ginny exclaimed unexpectedly, putting her hands on her cheeks thinking of Harry Potter, obviously without listening to a single word from her friends. Everyone looked at her as if she were crazy, "how beautiful ... how mesmerising ..."

"Gone in. Lost, goodbye Ginny, we'll always love you!" Colin debuted in a theatrical way.

It took the hands of the twins to awaken the child from the world of the dead, even if other people had wanted the handfuls of sweets from Honeyduke that they, going to Hogsmeade, had brought to their little sister and prohibited even from their friends: Butterbeer only for her; along with a shower of brightly colored candies; black Pepper Imps; and a new kind of free-tasting caramel.

Ginny enjoyed those delights and then decided to go down with her friends and the twins to the Great Hall for the Halloween great feast. It was as fantastic as last year, but a bad premonition sailed in the girl's mind when she took a seat at the table, turning her insides while the desserts that Dumbledore had ordered to prepare cried out invitation, including chocolate desserts of all kinds... this time nothing could go wrong, she completely reassured herself, because there were no diaries or other sinister and mysterious objects that could make bad things happen.

Nothing to worry about.

The banquet ended with a spectacle offered by the Hogwarts ghosts, who leapt out of walls and tables, but the act that was most acclaimed was that of Nearly-Headless-Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor, who reenacted his botched beheading.

Eventually all the students returned to their dorms, looking perfectly cheerful.

Nobody could ruin their party, no one but ...

"Someone get Professor Dumbledore, Quick!" the voice of Percy, his brother, thundered.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked as soon as she arrived at the portrait hole.

"But what happened here?" Demelza echoed anxiously.

The corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady was packed with students.

"Why aren't they going in? They couldn't have all forgotten the password ..." Vicky asked, craning her neck.

"I am having a crazy dream, good heavens" Ritchie blew with eyes closed at times, as Colin spoke in broken shouts, pushed behind by the crowd of students, along with William and Christopher who tried to talk to the girls and understand something of that strange situation.

Suddenly Professor Dumbledore made his way through the crowd, and Ginny noticed that the Fat Lady had disappeared from the portrait while the painting was destroyed, torn so violently that the floor was covered with strips of canvas: Professor McGonagall, Professor Lupin and Professor Snape followed him immediately, faces grim and expressions visibly worried.

"Holy cow!" Vicky hit her, rather impressively, as Demelza clutched Ginny's arm.

Alice and Rose, who had just arrived, groaned in surprise.

"We have to find her. Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch and tell him to look for the Fat Lady in all the paintings of the castle," the Headmaster said in a firm but tense voice.

"You'll be lucky!" exclaimed a grinning voice, that of Peeves the Poltergeist.

"What do you mean, Peeves?"

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir: I saw her running through the landscape on fourth floor, sir, and hiding behind the trees, screaming something terrible," replied Peeves, who did not want to make fun of Dumbledore, "poor thing," he added, without sounding worried.

"Did she say who did it?"

"Oh yes, Professorhead, sir. You know, he got very angry when she wouldn't let him in." Peeves did a somersault, looking like a long-winded student while all the students did not know what to think. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black"

Demelza stopped dead while walking towards her friends.

Professor Dumbledore had sent all the students of Hogwarts, all full from the feast, back into the Great Hall, where he conjured hundreds sleeping bags for each of them to spend the night there for their safety, because Sirius Black, as he managed to escape from Azkaban, had managed to penetrate Hogwarts. The castle was searched inside and out, while the Prefects guarded the doors of the Hall, and the responsibility of the students went to the Head Boy and Girl, anything wrong had to be communicated through the ghosts.

"Lights out in ten minutes!" Percy exclaimed, full in his role.

"Oh, shut up ..." Ginny muttered, but she could not shut up, since no one in the school seemed to _really_ want to shut up, and everyone asked and hypothesized around the same question: how did he get in?

"He apparated into the castle, it's obvious," said Colin, convinced as he slipped into his sleeping bag.

"You cannot apparate or disapparate in Hogwarts!" Demelza hissed impeccably.

"Maybe he was disguised," Ritchie lied down, covering himself up to his chin.

"I would like to see a disguise that can deceive the Dementors," William said skeptically, "didn't you hear Dumbledore at the beginning of the year?"

"So how did he do it, then?" asked Christopher, confused.

Vicky trembled all over.

"Luckily- fortune be with us, he chose this evening ..." the blonde said, anxiously, "the only night we aren't up in the Tower because of the Halloween party!"

"Oh heaven, think of it ..." Demelza did not finish the sentence and shuddered.

"Perhaps he entered by some secret passage!" exclaimed Ginny, who had heard of the adventures of the twins.

"Hey, that's an idea!" Colin approved as Demelza nodded slowly.

"Filch will know them all," William murmured.

"But maybe not all of them ..." Demelza said, seeming to have the same idea as Ginny, "how else would he have gotten in? He certainly can't just appear from nothing and ... yes, must have been from secret passages."

"That's right!"

"Ginny, you shut up too!" Percy hissed in anger, coming closer to his little sister. "Tomorrow you can talk about anything you want but not now, understand? Sleep, you five ... quickly!"

"Seven," she corrected him.

"Oh, just sleep!" the Head Boy growled, and went away with his nose in the air.

"Go to the devil dear brother adored ..." Ginny muttered viciously making Colin and Christopher laugh, who plunged their heads under the sleeping bag, "so, do you think there are secret passages here at Hogwarts?"

"Thousands, perhaps," said Ritchie, "judging by the size of the castle ..."

"That's impossible" Vicky decreed, "otherwise everyone would have found some secret passages"

"She's absolutely right: Filch couldn't divide into a thousand," Demelza agreed.

"So there must be few," said Ritchie, sounding convinced.

"Maybe..."

"No, that can not be!"

"Why not?"

"The castle is huge, they could be scattered everywhere and leading to faraway places," said Demelza as William nodded vigorously.

"Then there may be only one!" exclaimed Ginny.

Christopher giggled loudly, catching Percy's glare.

"Just one not ..." Ritchie said, his voice reduced to a hoarse whisper, "if Black came in there, Filch would have seen him"

"Maybe it was somewhere else,"

"Listen, let's put aside all this idea of secret passages and what not, couldn't he have flied into here?" Colin asked excitedly.

"And where would he get the stick and branches for the broom?" Vicky said, skeptical and amused.

"From his own-" Christopher began, but Demelza interrupted him.

"Chris!" she exclaimed breathlessly, choking down a giggle with her hand, while everyone laughed out loud.

"I was saying ar-"

"We don't care where he got the broom!"

"But it's not a dirty word?" Christopher asked, still amused.

Ginny choked and had tears in her eyes.

"Anyway, if he came here in air anyone could have seen him... and his _broom_ …" William glanced sideways at his friends, then continued with a smile on his lips, "don't know where he got it"

"But maybe he had an Invisibility Cloak on him ..." Ritchie said.

"And where in Merlin's name would he get that?" Vicky asked, frowning.

"In the same place as the broom," Colin suggested, and the boys laughed again.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE!" the most unbearable Head Boy of all Hogwarts shrieked in a very crisp voice with visible irritation and fury. "Do you really want to ruin my reputation, the five or six or seven of you?"

"Seven"

"Ginny, do you want Professor Dumbledore to bitterly repent having made me Head Boy?" Percy growled out of himself from exasperation.

"Certainly not me..."

"Then sleep!" he intimated them. "Sleep! My last warning, understand? Professor Snape is already going crazy!"

Under the suggestion of Ritchie and William, they decided to consider Percy's order and after turning in their sleeping bags, everyone eventually fell asleep with a pile of questions buzzing in their heads, and with their hearts in their throats for what they would have to deal with the next morning, one of which the enormous security standards that teachers would surely take.

* * *

 _ **Aaand, cut! Hope you liked this chapter!**_

 _ **translator (and owner of this account): Ermory she is such a cute and beautiful human being everyone hug this hufflepuff**_

 _ **~Helena Heansilton**_

 **Next: A singing card for harry**


	17. A Singing Card for Harry

_**Hi everybody, sorry for the day late update, my dear friend Helena now lives in China!yay. We cant see each other but this story will keep us connected. Hope you like this chapter.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: We do not own the story or the writing the plot belongs to JK Rowling and the writer is EmPotter, I just translate and Helena edits.**_

 _ **You can find this fanfiction on EFPfanfic the title is "Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa e' la mia storia"**_

* * *

 **A singing card for harry**

In the days that followed, talks were of nothing but Sirius Black, and the astonishing and impossible theories of how he had managed to enter Hogwarts, with Dumbledore and the Dementors on the guard: a Hufflepuff girl in third year with two long, blonde pigtails, Hannah Abbott, (according to Vicky's information) went around trying to tell the whole school that Black knew how to turn into a flowering bush; Annie Gray and Elisabeth Harries in Ginny's year had been flaunting their suspicions that he could break the Hogwarts protections without a wand; before Jason Samuels, a Ravenclaw also in second-year, told them that without a wand he could not do anything, especially after spending twelve years in Azkaban; Eloise Midgen walked around with the talisman bought the year before on her throat, in the hope that it would protect her, which Christopher found ridiculous; Ginny was more and more convinced that the secret passages had something to do with it and she was determined to talk to the twins about it for confirmation; while Harper, Astoria and the other Slytherins were acting completely ridiculous, even more so than usual.

"Shame it was Halloween" they exclaimed, throwing Vicky into a wave of panic while Christopher and Colin began bitterly calling names at them, "at least some of you _Gryffidiots_ could have met him!"

Meanwhile, the portrait of the Fat Lady had been replaced with that of a certain Sir Cadogan, a crazy knight on his grey pony, trying to challenge half of the poor Gryffindors to a duel at the portrait hole: he enjoyed thinking up exceedingly complicated passwords and changing them whenever he wanted, which threw poor Neville into despair, who told Ginny one day that he had to write a list in order to ever get in.

"Can't we have someone else?" Ginny asked Percy as they set off for breakfast on the day of the game between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, to the delight of Vicky Probisher (for a certain Cedric Diggory, of course) and the great discontent of the Gryffindor team, who were meant to be playing with Slytherins. That particular meeting on the fields has been postponed for Draco Malfoy's broken arm, which was supposedly hurt in Hagrid's class; but Ginny, having gone to see the half-giant, who cried repeatedly for the death sentence of a Hippogriff named Buckbeak, came to know that there was nothing wrong with Malfoy, and he had only been faking it, probably for fear of being defeated by Harry in that day's Quidditch encounter.

"That Sir Cadogan is completely crazy ..."

"No other portrait would accept the task," Percy replied, as Colin hurried past them, running away from Sir Cadogan shouting at him: 'come back and fight, vile rogue!',

"they're all afraid of what happened to the Fat Lady and... _oh, Harry!_ "

"Well?" his sister continued but Percy had already hurried away to escort Harry to the bathroom.

"What's the matter with him?" Demelza asked amusedly, reaching her heaving heavy breaths like Colin.

"I really think he's acting on my mum's orders..." the redhead snorted.

The two girls went downstairs for breakfast and were not surprised to see Vicky almost hyperventilating: she had a huge crush on Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff seeker (like Harry) and captain, since the first time she saw him. However, Ginny seriously doubt that such a sixteen-year-old would date a twelve-year-old. However, rather acting like Vicky, who kept badgering Ginny about Harry Potter as long as he knew her existence, Ginny did not tell her anything so as to not knock her down: Ginny would know the dread of a bubble being popped.

They had breakfast in happy chatters, about all the things in the world; then they set off to the Quidditch field.

In seconds after leaving the castle, everyone were already all soaked as wet sponges, and this meant that no matter the Gryffindors win or not, the team and the spectators would certainly win something from the weather: a good wave of flu.

After the game, students trodded back to the castle, many with a terrible cold. And besides, the game had been… just terrible, and horrifying, that no one would ask anyone else to ever witness it: Dementors, in the counts above a hundred, had came into the field. Players were distracted, completely panicking; while Harry had fainted, falling from the broom plunging at least fifteen feet, and failed to grab the snitch, leaving the Hufflepuffs victorious.

Everyone had thought he was dead, even though Dumbledore had intervened and softened his fall. Ginny, sitting on a chair in the Common Room surrounded by her friends, was still sniffling.

"Fortunately, the ground was soft"

"Fortunately it was raining so ..."

"I heard he didn't even break his glasses"

"Come on, Ginny," Demelza urged, "nothing happened to him, it's fine"

The girl nodded, smiling regardless of the tears.

"We'll have to go see him, don't you think?" Colin asked hesitantly, watching the Quidditch team entering the Common Room, back from the hospital wing.

"Yeah, of course! Is there any reason for you to not want to see him?" Christopher said, giggling, and then threw a long, noisy yawn that made Vicky twist her nose in disgust. "Who knows what he will say when he sees you coming ..."

"Bloddy hell, nice friend you are! "

"Hey, I didn't say anything that's not true!"

"You offended me! "

"You are too touchy! "

"You are offensive! "

"You are two idiots ..." William interrupted and the others burst out laughing. Ginny grinned as she watched Colin make a face between half a snort and half a giggle, "we'll all go together to see Harry Potter, shouldn't we?"

"Maybe Ginny could do something for him!" Vicky encouraged.

"Oh no ..." the girl groaned.

"Why not?"

"Why not!"

"He must understand what kind of person you are"

"You know, you're not helping her at all, Vic!" Demelza intervened sternly while the four boys tried to understand something more than the fact that this was conversation between females. Ginny would have sworn she had heard Colin mutter something like ' _bleah,_ girls!'.

"Harry must notice Ginny for what she is, and not for all the gifts she makes for him, which is just not how this is going to work!" Demelza added with a frightful frown, staring at the blonde, challenging her to contradict.

Demelza was a girl so dear, kind, introverted and sensitive, but when it came to something she was sure about, you would have to be careful, because she will make sure to win her case, and will become a ball of fury if anyone dared to say something she believes absolutely wrong. So it is in this occasion: Vicky had to be _very_ careful right now.

"I ..." the blonde started, stammered surprised by the words of Demelza, "I say that she should do something ... it's an incredible opportunity, an opportunity that should not be wasted at all! Harry Potter is alone in the hospital wing: Ginny should act, shouldn't she? "

"I would agree with you if it were not for what happened last year… " Ginny mumbled.

Demelza looked offended that her friends did not consider what she said, and her eyes seemed lucid to the light.

"Oh, the nursery rhyme? He will certainly have already forgotten!" Vicky said, waving a hand dismissively.

" _Has he already forgotten?_ " Christopher repeated, bewildered, and sat up quickly. "That nursery rhyme has become a legend, a folklore here at Hogwarts. You can hear all the girls humming it! You three have no idea of the figure of how m-"

"Thank you, Chris!" Ritchie said hurriedly, subtly glancing at Ginny.

"But these things he sees of me ..."

"It's okay," William added with a smile, "we know what you're trying to say. "

"I have not figured out what you're going to do with Harry," Colin said confusedly.

" _Ah, women!_ Fascinating creatures ... yet so difficult to understand!" Christopher began solemnly.

Everyone laughed, including Ginny.

"Yes, but the point is" Vicky cut short in general laughter, "are you going to take this opportunity?"

" _Carpe diem_ , it's said in the Muggle world," Colin added, "seize the moment!" William giggled loudly.

"All right, but what can I do for him?" Ginny asked, once more convinced that she was not about to make the right choice.

"A love letter?" Ritchie suggested uncertainly.

"The nursery rhymes are always in fashion ..." Chris suggested, catching Ginny's glare.

"Chocolates?" Vicky said delighted. "Those never go out of fashion!"

"How about something more sensible such as a get well note?" blurted Demelza, annoyed.

"Oh ... but that's an amazing idea!" exclaimed the suddenly electrified blonde.

"A singing card, maybe ..." Ginny muttered dreamily- she was already thinking about when she could give a little card to Harry Potter: the melody would lull him to a night's rest, just as if Ginny herself is there, as if Ginny is beside him, and she would have Harry think of her, the little sister of his best friend who is so in love, so kind, and caring for him ...

Yes, a singing card would have been the best.

"Ginny, are you listening to me?" asked Vicky's voice, which seemed an echo heard from afar.

"Eh?"

"Demelza has agreed to find out how to make this note sing: let's go to the library, _now_ "

"You will help me even if you don't approve?" the redhead asked her friend.

"Of course ..." Demelza answered, her cheeks turning red.

The three girls waved goodbye to their friends and marched through the Common Room to the portrait hole, happy and excited (Demelza was not exactly happy with that decision but joined the happiness of the others anyway), but never as much as the little Weasley, who almost stopped breathing from her rush of emotions: how could this not be the right time? He would have certainly noticed her this time. Well… also because he had no choice since he was nailed to a bed in the infirmary, and that would be good thing of this tragedy! Would Ron ever accept their relationship? Forget that. What would the other Weasleys say? They would be happy too, for sure…

"I also want a singing card with a lulling melody!" Christopher cried behind the girls, before the portrait of the Fat Lady closed between them.

"Let's test it!"

Vicky was definitely the most excited and could not wait to hear the sound.

"I worked the spell well enough: it should work." said Demelza surely.

"Hopefully..."

* * *

 _ **NEXT: FINDING A FRIEND IS FINDING A TREASURE**_

 _ **MESSAGE FROM EDITOR: Hey guys, I am so so sorry about the delay of this update, I** **couldn't** **complete this and send this through to Ermory because I've been** **in** **planes and buses and bunch of taxis and a house with no wifi for the past few days (moving… across countries…), so thanks so much for understanding. (We might have an extra update this week in return)**_

 _ **~Helena H.**_

 _ **SO this is the chapter today, sorry again for not updating yesterday but here it is, see y'all next week. Also don't be mad at Helena that Ravenclaw has to work a lot.**_

 _ **~Ermory**_


	18. Finding a friend is finding a treasure

_**Hello! Helena here- here despite being an ocean away now,, oh and, happy July everyone!**_

 _ **Here's your new chapter- actually one that Ermory really likes- it wasn't easy to get the feel of the storyline right, hope you guys like it!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: We don't own this- the characters and plot belong to JK Rowling, and the original story is written by EmPotter. We just translate and edit.**_

 _ **The original story is on EFPfanfic, called ' Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'**_

* * *

 **Finding a friend is finding a treasure**

To Ginny's great misfortune, Alice and Rose were Harry's next visitors to enter the hospital wing, and they were quick to understand who had given the boy that little card. Adding to the bad luck, he also had chosen that particular moment to open the card, making it sing noisily with a kind of shrilling melody: Ginny was then forced to immediately leave the hospital wing, running off with her friends at her heels. From then on whenever she sees Alice and Rose she would jump and hide behind Vicky and Demelza.

The days passed and talks of a strange little singing card given to Harry by an admirer was still spreading… and Ginny thought that was the worst thing that could have happened, since there was no doubt about who could have given it to the boy.

"And don't say I didn't warn you!" Demelza protested, determined to sulk her two friends. It was the day before departure for the Christmas holidays, and she sat down to lunch in the Great Hall flipping through _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi._

"Come on, Demelza, it was not so bad ..." Vicky said softly, glancing sideways at Ginny sitting next to her, "Now at least Harry knows she's still cooked about him, and he will will thinking about it"

"The problem is that he always knew!" Ginny exclaimed, tapping her fork on the table. Her eyes were now shining with tears.

"It's not the end of the world, redhead," Vicky resumed, hoping to give her courage, "you endured far worse things last year, didn't you?" she added, and Demelza gave her a dirty look. "I mean, I meant ... the nursery rhyme ..." she corrected quickly.

But Ginny knew that Vicky was not referring to the nursery rhyme.

"Yeah," she was determined to not think about the previous year, "but this second year I wanted to be different… "

"But no, If only you had listened to me-" Demelza began, but Vicky interrupted her angrily:

"Don't you be doing it too!" she snapped.

"I-I didn't mean-"

"Well, stop it, don't you see someone here might be suffering, or are you too busy preaching us about it?" She was almost shouting.

"It's already too much that I bear the arrows shot at me, and it's on top the fact that Harry Potter will never notice the _small_ and _helpless_ little sister of his best friend!" Ginny snapped desperately, talking more to herself than anyone else. But she quickly realized it was a big mistake, because that was the drop that made the vase overflow: Demelza's eyes, already pooling and shining at the words of Vicky, completely cracked at that moment; she burst into tears, and stormed away.

Ginny looked endlessly guilty.

"You would have regretted the lecture she was about to guve us ..." Vicky tried to justify, sending another bite down.

The bell rang, signifying the last lessons before the Christmas holidays. The second year Griffindors left the hall in a stream to walk down to Herbology. Ginny and Vicky walked together, without saying a word on any subject. Not even a word was muttered about trivial topics like school, nothing. Both were immersed in their thoughts: Ginny kept thinking about Demelza's words about Harry, about the fact that she should have long stopped with nursery rhymes and notes, about the fact that the boy needed to accepted her as she was and not because she filled him with gifts.

"Where were you guys? Were you eating like snails?" Colin asked as soon as he saw Ginny and Vicky come in: he shared a table with Demelza, William and Ritchie, and seemed to know nothing about what had happened at lunch.

The two girls walked past. Temporarily, their face lighted with a small smile when they saw Christopher, who was trying to fix a button for a Hufflepuff on their work table: Juliette Collins was a very thin girl with big hazel eyes, and brown, almost coppery hair. Together they passed a rather enjoyable lesson, but the lack of tension didn't last long. After developing more confidence and notes of friendship, Juliette turned to Ginny.

"Was it you who make the note for Harry Potter, Ginny?" she asked, while shredding her pot of knot grass.

The girl looked at Vicky, who immediately bore an alarmed expression.

Christopher had stopped trying to ask Juliette questions, and was now quietly following the lesson. The curiosity he had for her was not quite returned by the beautiful girl.

"Yes," the redhead sighed, "it was me"

"Johanna told me that she went to see him ... You know, last year she had a crush on Harry, only this year she started dating a Ravenclaw," Juliette informed her cheerfully, "but I I think she still likes him a little bit ... Harry, I mean ... " she added, lowering her voice into a whisper.

"Well, Harry Potter is very famous," Vicky said, almost mischievously.

"I don't like him just because he's famous!" Ginny hissed in anger, picking up a glare and already knowing, from the bottom of her heart, that she really did not like that Johanna Roberts at all.

It's all true: a crush on a famous boy could not last long, you would begin to have feelings for someone else... for someone closer, a boy who was not just the famous guy, right? It had happened to Johanna and indeed now she's seeing someone, though still feeling that attraction for the famous Harry Potter. But it's not like that Ginny. Quite unlike Johanna, it had not happened, because she had liked him since the first day seeing him at the station, not even knowing who he is.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Vicky apologised quickly, "but what is it with all of them today?" she added angrily.

By the end of the lesson Ginny had endured the most boring conversation ever made, the topic always him, Harry Potter, as if it's never enough: Johanna Roberts and Bonnie Lewis did not stop talking about the boy, obviously without malice, but with the hope of being able to help Ginny somehow. All they seemed to do was ask nagging questions about how she jumped into doing this, or repeat the same things Demelza had been saying for days. As soon as the bell rang, Ginny mumbled something like 'bathroom' and ran away for the other afternoon lessons, which were torments no less than Herbology.

She could not wait to go to bed, as soon as her head slammed on the pillow, she fell asleep, ignoring Vicky trying to learn more about chess, or Demelza reading in her bed.

The next morning Ginny packed in the dorm with a painful knot in her throat: how was she supposed to act with her friends now? Was she supposed to warmly bid them farewall as if nothing had happened? Or could she just murmur a goodbye and run away from it all? Running away ... did not sound much like a Gryffindor thing, but at that moment the girl did not feel like being with them a moment longer.

"See you after holiday!" she said quickly, and suck downstairs straight away, before quite hearing Delmelza and Vicky's replies. Fortunately, Ginny thought, that she had already said goodbyes to the boys last night.

Halfway down the path to the carriages she met Alice and Rose, and climbed into the carriage with them with her greatest disappointment. However, at that moment, Alice and Rose were the last of her problems, for she was starting a long and rather painful journey towards what's called 'adolescence'- Ginny thought sourly.

"What's wrong with you there, Genevra?" Alice asked curiously.

"Nothing," said the red head promptly, trying to shove away the storm inside her head.

"Oh, is it for that little singer card? Obviously we know you gave it to Harry Potter," Alice informed her, looking towards Rose with a muschievous smile, "but we can help you, you know. There are some tricks we don't use anymore, you take them and use it when you're in front of Harry Potter!"

Rose stared at her, then suddenly inhaled, and nodded vigorously.

"Tricks? Magic Tricks?" Ginny asked naively.

"Makeup for the face, Genevra!" Rose exclaimed, sounding scandalized yet amused.

Alice then placed Ginny in the lap a black pencil, a red eye shadow and a mascara- things she had always seen on their bedside table. She was amazed, and somewhat skeptical, that they would give her something to help her, but if it was true that they really don't use them anymore, giving them away was better than chucking them straight in the bin, even if that someone had to be their childish, naive and utterly clumsy class and dorm-mate.

"I'll… try them on the train ... thanks." the girl said while leaving the carriage for the train, and they gave her a small smile.

"Hey Ginny! Over here!"

"There's always a place for our little sister, of course!"

"Especially when our Ronnie's not here-"

So the girl went to join Fred and George, with the handful of cosmetics held close to her chest and ready to use.

"Come on now, honey ... give me your trunk," said Arthur Weasley, looking at her thoughtfully.

Ginny's eyes were bright with tears. She hadn't a chance of using the cosmetics Alice and Rose gave her. When she stood up to fetch her trunk, the little tubes had fallen from her robes, and were immediately picked up by Fred and George. From their expressions, they must have thought terrible of her: as if Ginny had tried to distance from herself, as if she denied herself by trying to look different, as if she wanted to be different from who she was. But it was not like that, she just wanted to be appreciated a little more by the girls and boys at school, she wanted to be appreciated by her brother's best friend ...

It's not about her wanting to change herself … it's about… about being herself…

"Ginny"

"Eh?"

"Leave the trunk handle."

... but who was Ginny Weasley?

Fred and George were right to be angry with her. They were right- Ginny thought- she had promised herself that this year would be different, that she would shake herself up, but it had gone just like the previous year, except for the part of risking death. Her second year must have been an opportunity for the girl to show herself up, instead of the sullen and wicked side she owned last year.

It was a little like betraying Dumbledore's trust.

"What do you want to eat tonight?" Molly Weasley asked fondly, immediately starting to buzz around the kitchen.

"Same as the others, mum, I'm going upstairs!" the eldest son in the house announced impatiently.

"That prat ..." Fred mumbled between his teeth.

"I really want to make the joke that concerns dragon poop ..." George added.

Fred chuckled, and with a grin, the twins disappeared, before Molly had time to open her mouth and ask the exact way in which those two would get dragon poop into their joke.

Mr. Weasley sank onto the couch, looking tired.

"I'll go up to my room too ..." Ginny announced melancholy, who was till then still stunned at the door, and climbed upstairs feeling the eyes of her parents on the back of hee neck, until reacting her messy bedroom ...

The days raced by imperceiveably, along with a Christmas that wasn't anything like a carefree and cheerful day Ginny had hoped for. Rather, she had spent entire days locked inside her room, dozing on her bed, to think… to torment her soul.

She was not like anyone, she had thought: she was not as pretty as Vicky, who was appreciated even by other equally beautiful girls; she was not intelligent, brilliant, always having good grades like Demelza, who succeeds in everything, but brushes it off in front of her friends; she was not spontaneous and always excited like Colin; she was not as funny as Christopher; she was not as mature as William; she was not sweet and so willing to help others like Ritchie. She was… nothing.

She was not like them.

Ginny teared up, on the day of departing for Hogwarts at the end of the holiday, to see a photograph Colin had sent, just developed from his camera. A letter is also attatched- for some reason unexplainable by Ginny, the only friend Ginny kept in contact with was Colin Creevey.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _My Christmas holidays were the absolute best, and the New Year's Day was especially fantastic: the Muggle fireworks are not so different from those your brother set off in the Common Room the other day. The only difference is that with those Muggle ones you can actually hurt yourself; you know, my uncle had lost two fingers when he got too close, and a lot of blood came out. It was really scary… I had been so little!_

 _I developed the group photo of us on the night Sirius Black came into the castle, I hope you like it!_

 _ **Ps: note Ritchie's face.**_

The girl burst out laughing: in the photograph, on the left side, there she was her, with her red hair tied in two disheveled pigtails, sitting beside a giggling Demelza. Ginny remembered that day nostalgically; in the center of the picture was Christopher tormenting Ritchie's hair, whose mouth was half open; on the right Vicky and William laughed, Vicky wiping her eyes while Colin pointed to Ritchie's hair with a grimace.

Ginny tucked the photograph in the side pocket of her trunk: they were leaving in a few hours, and she had to hurry up, because she had no intention of continuing to endure Percy.

 _Toc toc toc._

"What's is it?" Ginny asked irritably, quickly closing the letter as both her parents entered. Both of them.

"Are you finished with the trunk, honey?" her mother asked softly.

"Mum!" called George from the landing.

"What's up, we want to know too!" Fred echoed curiously, but Mrs. Weasley glared at him and closed the door.

Ginny was sure the twins did not want to miss a moment of conversation, because it was rather strange that both parents would visit their daughter's messy abode on the day of returning to Hogwarts, after a holiday of having her locked in the room.

"I'm finished, anyway," the girl answered, looking at the trunk, "not as perfect as it could be though ..."

"It doesn't matter" she was cut off kindly by her father, sitting on the bed with his wife, "it's heavy this year, isn't it?"

The girl nodded absently, staring at the floor.

"Er ... it must be like it's all new to you, in a way," Mr. Weasley mumbled uncomfortably.

"You're just growing up, honey, and the phase you're going through is ... a transit phase, isn't it?" the mother continue, now taking up the heart of the situation. Ginny wondered where her parents were going: was is because how detached she had acted these days? Probably. "A phase where ... well ... when you form your character, personality and …"

"I know" she interrupted, "I know what you mean"

"Yes, but Ginny ... we have all noticed that there is _something_ that's bothering you"

She didn't answer, tears threatening to fall.

"We understand that, what you've been through was ... bad," Mrs. Weasley cautioned, "but you don't have to make choices that are not your own, just to be in part of a group. It just happens that-"

"Yes, honey... We do not want you to become something you are not "

At that point the girl burst into tears and the mother immediately took her tightly into arms, looking pained.

"But everyone is better than me!" she shouted, looking at the faces of her parents through a veil of sadness. "Everyone! The girls are all nicer and smarter… And I ...nobody likes me! Because I'm stupid!"

"No, you're not ..." Mr. Weasley began more uncomfortably but Ginny interrupted angrily.

"Yes, yes, you would say that because you did not see what happened last year ... you do not know what happened and how I felt ... I did not talk to anyone ... only with Albus Dumbledore because- because I had to. What do you think they would have thought of me? I was just s-s-stupid!"

And here was the painful point in this incredible situation: the events of the Chamber of Secrets in which she was the main character. Ginny had never talked about it with anyone, only with Albus Dumbledore, because in those conditions only with her Headmaster she had the urge to talk about it. Even with her family, she had always tried to pretend that it had never happened, but maybe ... that was the problem. It wasn't right to pretend that it had never happened before- she had to talk to those who loved her, she can't ignore everything, as if she had not risked dying at all.

"My friends don't know it, nobody knows…" the girl sobbed, now thinking of those geese Alice and Rose trying to make her do things she didnt want. "My Boggart is Tom Riddle, and for that they laughed at me for a whole week. I don't know what to do anymore... it seems that whatever I try it never goes well!"

"You do not have to be influenced by anyone anymore. The choices are yours now, Ginny," the father severely, whose eyes were bright, "we know how difficult it was last year, and, well, you have to try talking to your friends, with others", about when it happened. This experience should not be a taboo, a reason for painted even now, understood?"

"We just want you to be yourself ..." Molly Weasley whispered, still sniffling.

They were right, and how right they are.

Ginny had to be absolutely herself, she did not have to be stupid to get noticed by her brother's best friend, she did not have to wear makeup just to make the boys consider her more, she did not have to behave like she did bad things, because she had not been herself- she should not behave as if inferior to the others.

She had to grow up and be Ginny Weasley.

Suddenly the door jerked open, Molly Weasley jumped up, hands on her hips: Fred and George had forcefully pulled open the door (supposedly by mistake) and found themselves on the floor. Arthur also stood up.

"Ready, little sis?" Fred asked innocently, pulling himself up.

"And what were you doing behind the door?" Mrs. Weasley frowned, but Ginny was smiling, despite being in tears.

"Ugh, can we escort our sister away from home or do we still need permission?" George threw an eloquent smile, and the girl went ahead to join the twins, thinking about how damn wrong she was about them.

Or about everyone.

Glad to have finally spilled out everything she had managed and needed to spill out- with her parents at least- Ginny trotted through the train looking for the compartment where, she was sure, her friends would be found, leaving the twins in a compartment with Lee Jordan in their combined havok, their usual doings. She checked into every compartment, even scandalously discovering a couple kissing, (convinced that the blonde girl was Vicky) and finally found all her friends: they were sitting together in the compartment at the end of the train and chatting cheerfully.

"Hello guys!" Ginny greeted them as she opened the compartment door. Shouts, excited shrieks and greetings arose in response: Colin almost flew into her in a tight embrace. Vicky, forgotten all hostility, printed a noisy kiss on her cheek. "Can I sit with you?" the redhead asked sarcastically.

"Join us!" Christopher replied with a big smile, while Demelza made room for her on the seat.

"How had you spend Christmas?" asked the latter.

She and Vicky sat close together and it seemed that they had made peace.

"We are all listening to you, Red Head, do not worry," William reassured her, though engaged in a game of chess with Ritchie-ready to beat him as usual, "but just that ... well, chess is chess"

" _Squash it_ , it's just a pawn!" Ritchie hissed hysterically. "I'm listening to you too, eh ..." he added, smiling.

Ginny chuckled and, with the help of the others, hoisted the trunk on the rack. She casually put her hair into a messy bundle, made a long yawn and sank into the small space next to Demelza.

"How come you're not playing?" Ginny asked Christopher, who was dozing.

"Sun rising from the west… it can happen ..." Vicky grumbled, starting to giggle and Christopher snorted loudly, "Come on Chris! We can tell Ginny! Basically, Juliette Collins likes a certain Jeremy Stretton from Ravenclaw in our year... And Chris ... well, Chris liked Juliette!"

"You must not break down!" Ginny encouraged him even though she was the last person in the world who could give such suggestions. "There are people even more ruined than you ..." she added, pointing to herself, this brought a smile to Christopher.

William and Ritchie giggled slightly.

"So how was your Christmas? My brother can't wait for this year to finish, so he can join us here at Hogwarts next year," he began talking raudly, enthusiastic as ever, "he can't wait to start studying here, because he can't control his magic, you know?"

"Will your brother come?"

"I really think so: he has so much magic!"

Demelza, as Ginny noticed, watched her without speaking to her.

"Are you still angry with me?" asked the latter with melancholy.

Vicky mumbled something that sounded like 'her and I had made up…'

"Of course not, I'm not angry!" exclaimed Demelza.

"You should, I treated you badly!" Ginny protested, red in the face, "I was angry too, you know, not at you, but at myself, because I thought I could never be good enough for anyone, because I doubted you all ... because I thought I was useless."

Demelza's eyes widened; Colin, who was still talking in bursts with Christopher, stopped instantly and looked at his friend; William, Ritchie, and Vicky all turned to be a part of this conversation.

"I didn't know how to act, I treated you all badly ... I felt horrible ..." Ginny continued sadly, "then I talked to my parents: be yourself, they told me, they said what you wanted me to understand but, I never did for how ignorant I was."

Then she started-

She told her friends what had happened at her house, about the conversation with her parents, about the horrible last weeks of school, Alice and Rose with their ugly methods, and about the Chamber of Secrets. She also told them about the Headmaster talking to her in the hoslital wing… but omitted the details of Tom Riddle, because those details would always take her to the darkest corner of her heart. It was right to leave it this way.

"Craz- wow!" Christopher quickly corrected, catching the look of reproach from Demelza, who was tearfulat the same time. By the end of the story, no one breathed in the compartment, and Chris had broken the silence with his gentle exclamation. "I-I'm so sorry ..." and he was sincere.

"Yeah, well ... you had to know if you guys are my friends," Ginny muttered, embarrassed, "My Boggart is Tom Riddle, you know, that handsome boy you saw on the first day of Defense Against the Dark Arts"

" _He_ was You-Know-Who?" asked Vicky, sounding scandalized.

The chess board sat untouched, and neither William nor Ritchie had said a single word. Ginny stared at the chess pieces, a knight clicked his knife against the board.

"It's him," she confirmed.

Suddenly, she did not know how it happened, she found herself in the arms of everyone, all ready to hold her in a big hug, all ready to show her that they loved her. Demelza burst into tears, apologizing again and again for being hard on her with the matter of Harry. But she was right about what to do with Harry, if only she had followed her advice… Because Harry really was one of the girl's many problems.

But at this moment all the problems did not matter: Ginny was with her friends.

* * *

 _ **That's your chapter today, please tell us if you liked it,,, and until we next upload, byee**_

 _ **~Helena H. (editor)**_

 _ **translator and owner of this account: Ermory**_

 _ **ps: I don't know who took that picture either**_

 **Next: New subjects and scary victories**


	19. New Subjects and Scary Victories

_**hey everybody sorry for the late upload, again. Still getting used to living in different countries and my parent's friends keep popping up uninvited 3 days in a row with their kids, which make me not work cuz i have to babysit them, while the adults are having fun. Anyway here is the chapter.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Me and Helena do not own the story or the plot or the writing, the plot belongs to JK Rowling and the original story was written by EmPotter**_

 _ **Original story: It can be found in Italian on EFP fanfic under the title "Sono Ginny Weasley e questa è la mia storia"**_

* * *

 **New subjects and scary victories**

They had a really animated arrival back at school. Excitement grew as the Common Room began to gradually fill up, becoming rather crowded; under the after-holidays enthusiasm of everyone present, the twins burst some Filibuster fireworks, casually throwing a wink towards their little sister, who looked on at them admiringly. Before anything else, though, a visit to Hagrid was also in place for Ginny and her friends, who watched him prepare for the third years' class—Ron's class—while Colin actually tried to stroke one of the interesting little things. Regrettably, the visit ended in having to send Colin to Madam Pomfrey: they had really sharp claws.

The next morning began much less light-heartedly: for one, classes began; and also, McGonagall gave them all a nice little talk on the subjects they wanted to undertake once in third year—decisive choices for their future.

Needless to say, this _really_ threw Ginny into a crisis.

 **Muggle Studies**

 **Teacher: Charity Burbage**

 _The subject consists of studying Muggle social habits and Muggle technologies, such as cars, plugs, batteries, various machines and everything that belongs to their world._

"Maybe I could go with this..." Demelza murmured doubtfully, curling up on a chair by the Common Room fireplace and reading the sheet carefully, "but I already know everything about Muggles because my paternal aunt is a Muggle. It would be interesting to be able to study it from the wizard's point of view, right? " she looked around at them one by one.

"I don't know," said Ginny somewhat thoughtfully, collapsed on the sofa with William's head in her lap.

"Don't complicate your life, Dem!" Christopher replied, seeming the quietest of the group.

 **Ancient Runes**

 **Teacher: Bathsheda Babbling**

 _The subject teaches the translation and understanding of an ancient language, made up of graphic symbols. At Hogwarts we also study numerical runes, in which the numbers from zero to nine are combined with animals, or parts of them, as well as magical objects, as part of the language._

"Oh, that's interesting!" Demelza commented, suddenly becoming excited.

"What?" Ritchie asked curiously, lying on his stomach on the floor, next to Christopher and Colin, who have long thrown away the efforts to understand the otherworldly language on the sheet, or exactly what the subjects are teaching.

"Ancient Runes" Demelza answered, "it's really interesting, isn't it?" she repeated.

"Arithmancy looks scary!" William raised his eyebrows, horrified, and his grey eyes widened, "the teacher's name is just as scary, I will never understand what these ancient materials are for ... no one speaks Latin anymore!"

"Latin is also studied in Muggle schools, do you know that?"

"Really?" Ritchie asked, turning to Colin, who nodded.

Vicky, who had been silent all this time, sitting on the arm of Demelza's chair in a mood, suddenly snorted, throwing her blond hair back impatiently. Even Ginny laughed with them every three minutes or so, while nervously twisting a lock of red hair around her index finger, intent on reading the materials, undecided as ever about what to do.

 **Care of Magical Creatures**

 **Teacher: Rubeus Hagrid**

 _The subject deals with the study and care of all creatures in the magical world, which would include unicorns, Hippogriffs, Thestrals and various other magical species._

 **Divination**

 **Teacher: Sybill Trelawney**

 _This is a subject that teaches us to foresee the future through different divination techniques such as the reading of the hand, tea leaves or cards, the observation of the stars or the interpretation of dreams. The observation of crystal spheres is also practiced._

"I think I will only choose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination" Christopher declared, satisfied with his choice and immediately free from any other concern, "the only subjects that interest me!" he justified himself.

"Divination must be a blast!" William commented enthusiastically, ticking the box next to Divination.

"Will, but did you really understand what you do in Divination?" Vicky asked promptly, now in a particularly irritable mood. "You learn about the future, it's not just a game, as you seem to be saying, in fact, it's really very informative and interesting!"

"No, it's disturbing..." Ritchie said slowly, unable to restrain herself.

"It can be disturbing, but I would gladly exchange History of Magic for Divination," William declared. Ginny, Colin and Christopher immediately nodded in agreement.

"That would be an idea!" Colin exclaimed, excited. "We can propose this exchange between the subjects: after History of Magic, Potions will be the next I'll send away!"

"Yes, the son of the Minister has arrived at Hogwarts!" Vicky mocked, amused.

"Hey!" the boy protested indignantly.

"They will never let you exchange any compulsory subject with one of these"

"There's no harm in trying—"

"Yes, and they'll send _you_ away," Christopher said with a laugh, "I really know Vic is right"

Demelza was too busy to join the conversation.

"Anyway, I should probably ask my brothers about this..." Ginny muttered distractedly, interrupting Colin about to reply to Chris's statement, "but they always say that Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are impossible subjects, and I do not want to give myself the impossible life... Maybe I can go with Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. There needs to be someone in my family who understands Muggles, my dad is crazy for them!" she chuckled.

"For me, perhaps it's Ancient Runes, Care of Magic Creatures and ... Divination," sighed Demelza, shuddering at her own words.

Ginny turned and stared at her, and so did everyone.

"What was that you'll have?" Ritchie asked with a smile.

"It's that ... well ... Divination catches me with a certain curiosity ..." she explained timidly.

"Well that's great and let's move on!" William exclaimed, waving his hand nonchalantly, while Demelza shot him a grim look. "Whatever, Dem! Anyway ... I will just choose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, I could do with some extra chess."

"I will do the same," Vicky said immediately, "but I'll also go with what Testa Rossa chose, Muggle Studies quite intrigue me, and practically my whole family is only wizards."

"Testa Rossa?"

"It means red head in Italian or something," Vicky smiled cheekily, "it sounds cute"

"I choose the same thing as William," Christopher confirmed, stifling a yawn and bringing the topic back.

"Same here," Ritchie said, throwing all the paper aside.

"All you have to do let me join you guys—" Colin added with a big smile.

"And we're all there!" Ginny exclaimed.

Then she smiled to himself: she had made a choice alone, and that's without any advice from her family. It's virtually the most reasonable (and important) choice she had ever made, a choice that decided something for her own future. _And she had done it alone!_ No one had forced it, or conditioned it... and that was certainly a definite step in the formation of the new and mature Ginny Weasley.

"Aaaah" Christopher sighed suddenly with joy and lightheartedness, "we'll be all together again next year!"

William stared at him and could not help himself— "If you could even get there before dying of love sickness" he murmured from between his teeth.

Ginny, who was drinking a little water from her water bottle, spat everything on poor Vicky's blond hair and burst out laughing. Though the blonde did not seem to have noticed that her friend's saliva had soiled her hair, for she was too laughing hard. As for the others, they were all bent over, clutching their stomach, and Colin—Colin howled: his laughter could be called contagious even for the most boring of students, even for Percy Weasley.

"Oh you son of—" Christopher finally began.

"CHRIS!" Vicky protested, for she's one that has zero tolerance for bad words.

"—Morgana" the boy concluded weakly.

Ginny would have sworn that she saw someone in the common room moving away from them, annoyed by their screams and shouts.

Fred and George had warmly complimented Ginny for her subject choices that, according to them, they would choose the same if they're to do OWLs again, especially with regards to Muggle Studies: they were just too stupid not to choose it from the beginning, thinking it was a loss of time, and they were 'profoundly repentant'—for all the lost jokes about Muggle machinery, which, thanks to their little sister, they could now experiment with. Percy, on the other hand, was 'deeply disappointed' by his sister's behavior, and stated that he would have preferred Ginny to come to him for advice.

"Maybe he would have forced you to choose those boring subjects that he chose" Fred had told her, in a very low voice, "you did very well to choose by yourself, little sis, Mum and Dad will be surely happy."

"Do not worry about that Pumpkin Head Boy," George added.

The twins' compliments were worth more than anything else in the world for the girl.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-

January turned quickly into February without any major changes, except that every time Ginny and her friends went to the library to study or do some research, they found Hermione Granger, Ron and Harry's friend, without any company. And that's not all! The girl was alone even at lunch, in the common room, in the corridors at the end of the lessons... practically all the time.

Ginny had no intention of meddling in the private affairs of her brother, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter, but she really felt sorry to see Hermione alone, so one day, after having lunched, she left her friends for a moment, who were arguing over how boring History of Magic is, and approached her in the library, hesitantly.

"Hi ..." said the red head, cordially.

Hermione raised her head from a huge Runes dictionary and smiled.

"Hi," she replied, shifting in her seat to make room for her, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, not bad, and are you all right?" Ginny sat down next to Hermione, who simply nodded. "No, it's not true that all is well, I know we're not very good friends, and you're the best friend of my brother and Harry ... but ..." the redhead was awkward: she did not want to hurt the girl, who already had tears in her eyes. Sometimes Hermione reminded her so much of Demelza, a harder exaggeration than Demelza, "if there's something wrong with the boys, you can tell me about it"

The girl kept staring at her, and it took a long time before she could say anything. "Crookshanks ate Scabbers," she finally declared, looking down.

Ginny, who was staring at the huge Runes dictionary, looked at the girl.

"Your cat ...?"

"Yes, he ate Scabbers..."

"That's why you and my brother had a fight?"

"Yes"

Ginny sighed, rather amused. "Ron should understand that Crookshanks is like any other cat," she said, not at all disappointed that Hermione's cat had eaten that boring smelly rat. She had never really been impressed by the rat _missing a finger_ , "I think your fight is useless, you know?"

Hermione did not answer. Ginny could not wait to go up to her brother.

"Where is he now?"

"I think he's in the dormitory: when I was coming to the library, he went up the stairs," Hermione answered gloomily.

"I wonder if Fred and George know about Scabbers..." Ginny murmured curiously, then looking up at Hermione again her eyes fell on a beautiful chain around her neck. It looked like a sparkling golden hourglass, and one look at it tells you it's got a certain charm around it: a luminous halo floated in the little glass tube in the mysterious hourglass.

Hermione realized what Ginny was looking at and hurried to put it under her robes.

"That chain is beautiful!" said the redhead, still struck, "but where did you get it?" she added curiously.

"Oh ... uh ... in a Muggle shop," Hermione replied quickly, her cheeks slightly flushed, "ooh, it's getting late: I should be in Ancient Runes class," she said anxiously.

Ginny jumped up, waved her goodbye and walked away from the library, catching Madame Pince's glares. She set off to Gryffindor Tower, determined to talk to her brother about how wrong he is acting to his friend, for a thing she would never foresee: cats ate mice!

On the way she also met Fred and George, who were sneaking out with a sort of strange piece of parchment in hand (the two hurried to hide it in their sister's presence— Merlin, why is everyone hiding things from her!) and as they seemed unaware of all that had happened, she told them. The twins immediately joined her, mumbling incomprehensible things like 'trying out the crying hex'. In less than no time the three found themselves in the Gryffindor Tower, and as quickly they were opening the door of the third year boys' dorm room.

Ginny was _slightly_ embarrassed.

"For God's sake, look at you!" exclaimed Fred, incredulous.

Ron was seated at his bedside in front of the dormitory door, his face lighted up with rage and his ears reddened, and the consoling smiles of his best friend did not seem to help. Ron sniffed every two seconds, and kept repeating the same words, looking at the twins and Ginny, who felt herself growing smaller and smaller in the presence of Harry Potter.

"Did you know?" asked said boy, fixing eyes on them one by one.

"Just now!" George confirmed.

"That cat has eaten Scabbers!" Ron moaned furiously, making them all wince. "What else do you want me to say?"

"I know you're sorry... but cats eat rats, Ron" George objected cautiously, approaching his brother's bed followed by the other two, "it's in their nature"

"But that cat just had something with Scabbers!" the boy protested.

Harry gestured with his head as if to say that it was only nonsense.

"I'm sure if you'll feel better if you just get another rat," Ginny encouraged.

"Come on, Ron!" Fred started shaking him, seeing that his brother remained impassive to his sister's words. "You were always saying how boring Scabbers was ... he's been off colour for ages, he was wasting away, it was probably better for him to go down quickly—one swallow!"

Ginny's eyes widened, from the little tact that, even on that occasion, his brother had shown: " _Fred!_ " she exclaimed indignantly, because from Ron's face she understood that he would gladly have howled with anguish.

"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself!" George added delicately.

"But he bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said, looking more dejected than ever. "Remember, Harry?"

"Yeah, that's true," the boy confirmed helplessly.

"His finest hour of glory," said Fred, unable to remain serious, and Ginny's lips curled into a smile involuntarily. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the use of moaning?"

Ron stared at Fred, still with a melancholy look, then slowly nodded as if he was heartened. Ginny sighed in relief, and gave an encouraging pat to his brother's shoulder, as he got dragged down the spiral staircase by Fred and George; she rejoiced in sudden thanks to the twins. The little girl, however, turning towards the door, noticed something that made her eyes sparkle with a new light: in the corner of the room there was the most extraordinary model of broom in the world—sitting right in the corner of the boys' room was a _Firebolt_. It's in such an indistinct corner that she almost missed it.

"Yeah, it's a real Firebolt," Harry told her, smiling, having anticipated her question. The girl almost could not care that she was alone with Harry Potter in _his_ dorm room. "Do you like it, Ginny?" the boy added, friendly and a little awkwardly.

Number one useless question.

"But ... but it's ... _perfect_ " she concluded in a whisper, "would you let me hold it?"

The boy nodded immediately, smiling, encouraging her to take it. Ginny drew nearer to the racing broom she'd yearned for in the Diagon Alley shop window, and held it in her hand: the handle vibrated slightly, as if it could not wait to be ridden. What wouldn't the girl give to have a Firebolt.

Reluctantly, she gently placed the broom back in its place, her eyes still fixed on that shining handle, and finally she turned to Harry smiling at her as she thanked him, ever so grateful that he had agreed to let her hold his Firebolt, as she walked toward the door.

"Will you come to tomorrow's game?" Harry asked, following her out of the dormitory.

Number two useless question.

"Y-yes, of course I'll be there" Ginny replied, still smiling embarrassedly, hastened to reach her friends by the fire, while the boy approached Ron with a determined smile on his face.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-

"I was dying to keep that Firebolt in my hands!"

"Or were you dying because of who will ride that Firebolt today?"

"No, Chris, only for the Firebolt! Heck, it was beautiful! Unequaled balance and precision, when I grabbed it, I can feel it obeying the touch!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly.

The girl and her friends were all dressed up with bows, banners, hats and scarves, ready to cheer for Gryffindor: this was the day of the game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and they could not wait to be at the stands to cheer.

"Not to mention the Braking Charm!" Demelza said, she too was a big fan.

"Yeah, I heard you can accelerate up to 250 kilometers per hour!" Vicky added, it seems their entire group were huge Quidditch fans.

"How much I wanted to be you…" Ritchie murmured enviously, turned to Ginny who frowned playfully, "a Firebolt, hell, do you understand what it means? Gryffindor _will_ win the Quidditch Cup this year!"

"At least so it seems to me!" Christopher agreed.

The only ones who did not seem to respond to 'Quidditch' or 'Firebolt' were Colin and William, who had never been crazy about that sport. For Colin it's a synonym to suicide, and he'd had the most absurd accidents on a broom; William simply declared to be not interested at all, though he understood more than he wanted to admit; Ritchie, even if he was a shy, lovable and awkward boy, had declared from the beginning that one day he would enter the team as a Beater, because he was sure of his abilities, even if too embarrassed to fly in the presence of the whole school (having blushed at merely the thought); Christopher, Demelza, Vicky and Ginny were, like Ritchie, Quidditch fans but Christopher loved to cheer more than play, which no one would have expected from someone like him.

"A perfect handle ..." Ginny repeated dreamily.

"Yes, is it the handle that's perfect or the guy that holds it?" Chris insisted again, and Ginny did not hesitate to smack him across the back of the head.

"But he's right!" Colin immediately added as everyone laughed.

"Don't tell me he didn't give me reason to smack him!" the redhead replied, amusedly. "If you really care, I decided to forget who rode that perfect broom!"

The others kept laughing skeptically; William exclaimed "as much as I am the Minister of Magic!"

"You and Harry will end up together some day!" Vicky declared perkily, sounding absolutely sure of herself.

This time it was Ginny giggling.

"Do you already follow Divination courses, Vic?" Ritchie asked, amusedly, "I thought they only start in September!"

"Nah, but I feel it"

No one would have imagined that Vicky's feelings would turn out to be so truthful one day...

"Let's go down to the game, come on," said Demelza, looking at the half-empty Great Hall, "I don't want to miss even a moment of this match, especially if there's a Firebolt in the field!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Christopher consented theatrically.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-

It's was as if the Gryffindors had already won the Quidditch Cup.

With the Firebolt in the field, Gryffindors had beaten the Ravenclaws without a doubt: the celebrations immediately began at the end of the game and continued throughout the night. Harry had managed to snatch the Golden Snitch from the hands of a certain Cho Chang, Ravenclaw Seeker, thus giving the red-golds something to rejoice for so many boring days.

During the celebrations, little Weasley took a little of everything, starting with the sweets and finishing with Butterbeer. She and her friends were still discussing the game, while Colin and William stuck with the butterbeers, starting to mumble when they talked, and swayed slightly from side to side when they walked, which everyone found amusing.

"If only we could get hold of Colin's camera!" Chris snorted, watching the device swing around his friend's neck.

"What an idiot ..." Vicky hilariously commented, watching them drink again.

Ginny chuckled and took another sip of her Butterbeer, then lowering the mug as she saw a flash of bushy hair running past them: a desperate Hermione ran towards the girls' dorm with tears in her eyes and the girl had no doubt about who was guilty of that.

"Where are you going?" Demelza asked as Ginny walked away from them.

"I'll be right back!" she answered and ran to the third-year girls' dorm room.

She did not want to disturb Hermione, but she was sure that at this moment, the girl, for as strong as she was, needed another girl for company, a friend she could count on right now who could help her. Ginny opened the dormitory door and, as expected, Hermione was in desperate sobs. Little Weasley pitied the scene, and looked mortified to be intruding…

"H-hi, Ginny ..." Hermione murmured, her voice shaking, "how's the party down there?"

"Hermione, please ... it was Ron who made you cry, wasn't it?" the girl asked, approaching her. "He does it without realizing it, no feelings at all, boys..." she added in a practical tone of someone that knows a lot, because about guys she really meant she knows a lot, thanks to her brothers, "you mustn't feel bad because of him"

"Your brother hates me! _He_ _hates_ me because Crookshanks ate Scabbers!" Hermione exclaimed, crying on Ginny's shoulder, who tried to console her. "Oh, how stupid am I, I'm sorry, but, but I love him ..."

Ginny felt even worse for Hermione, and a painful knot stopped in her throat as she stroked her hairy bush. "And what about Harry?" she asked her, trying to keep a firm tone.

"I have a lot of homework to do and we hardly ever see each other, we talk to each other, but he stays with Ron..."

"Everything will be fine, they love you too. I confess that my brother has been waiting for the whole summer to be at Leaky Cauldron." Ginny encouraged her and a sincere smile alighted Hermione's lips, wiping away her tears.

"Go and enjoy the party," she finally said.

It really took a long time for Ginny to be convinced to return to the party, but the girl just did not have the heart to leave Hermione alone. In the end, however, she had to admit that it was easier to ride a Hippogriff than to persuade the girl to go down with her, so Ginny, defeated, returned to the party and took another glass of butterbeer, hoping that the knot in her throat would melt a little. From that moment on, she was sure that Hermione would always be there for her too when she needed it, and that seemed to cheer her up a lot.

The party continued and continued, until McGonagall, in a Scottish dressing gown, told the Gryffindors to go to bed; and everyone finally started filing out when Percy took up the situation in his hands, not taking no for answers.

"It was a beautiful party," Demelza declared, smiling as she slipped into bed.

"Yeah, and when we have the Quidditch Cup it will be more beautiful!" exclaimed Vicky cheerfully.

"You can say it for sure!" Ginny said. "Good night!"

The girl closed her eyes and as soon as she did she seemed to fall asleep. She was having a brilliant and very strange dream consisting her friends laughing at her every joke, when shouts and noises from the Common Room abruptly pulled her suddenly from sleep, opening her eyes. She felt someone move near her bed and glimpsed a light coming from the spiral staircase.

"Sirius Black!"

"Back in the Tower!"

Alice and Rose's shrieks fully awakened Ginny, who jumped up immediately and rushed down with the crowd to the Common Room, followed by Vicky and Demelza, who almost fell down the stairs to everyone in the hall: they were all gathered around... his brother Ron, who was pale as a rag and shivered heavily. What the hell had happened? What did Sirius Black have to do with it? Had Ron been attacked perhaps? Ginny joined the queue of people, with Demelza trembling at her side.

"Go back upstairs!" shouted an enraged Percy.

"Perce ... Sirius Black ..." Ron said weakly, "in our dorm, with a knife! He woke me up!"

"Nonsense!" the Head Boy exclaimed. "You had too much to eat, Ron, had a nightmare… I tell you…"

"Now really, enough's enough!"

It was Professor McGonagall and she was furious. She slammed the portrait behind her and looked around at them all with a stern air: she seemed about to burst and scream and scold at all the Gryffindors. To be completely honest, Ginny did not know what to think: Ron could not have told such a big lie but that incident was totally far-fetched, if not impossible.

"I'm delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!" McGonagall all but exclaimed.

"I certainly didn't authorize this, professor!" the idolized boy protested, opening his mouth wide, "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare—"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron roared fiercely. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Ginny winced as McGonagall stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't be rediculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him!" Ron snapped, pointing his finger at the portrait, which the professor approached reluctantly, while the entire Common Room stopped breathing and strained their ears.

"Sir Cadogan, did you let a man come into the Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" the knight sounded thrilled.

Everyone in the room looked at each other in horror.

"You ... _You did?_ ... But ... the password?"

"He had them!" said Sir Cadogan proudly, swelling his chest. "He had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall returned to the Common Room, she was white as chalk. She looked at them one by one, trembling with rage and said, voice and broken with rage: "Which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

The most complete silence bored down, broken by the desperate squeaks of Neville Longbottom, who stood right behind Ginny and her friends: under the eyes of the professor, he slowly raised his hand, shaking from head to toe.

* * *

 **Next: Quidditch means harmony**

 _ **Well, that was the chapter y'all hope you liked it, and ho if you haven't noticed, the one who uploaded it today was Ermory, Hi. Remeber to like and subscribe~.. wait... wrong site, but you get the gits of it.**_

 _ **~Ermory**_

 _ **Editor: Helena Heansilton (beatiful ravenclaw whom i wil never get tired of)**_


	20. Quidditch means harmony

**_Hey, it's Helena, since Ermory is out of internet on a summer family visit. Well, we're yet again almost late for the update and we've kinda discovered that both of us have terrible work ethics._**

 ** _Anyway, enjoy the chapter!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: We don't own any of this- the plot and characters and some dialogues and descriptions belong to JK Rowling, while the original story is written by EmPotter. We just translate and edit._**

 ** _The original story can be found in Italian on EFPfanfic, named_** ** _'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'_**

* * *

 **Quidditch means harmony**

Morning finally came, and the scared students could talk about nothing but, yet again, the escape, of Sirius Black. As Ginny walked around the castle hearing the topic for what seemed like the umpteenth time, signs of much tighter security could be seen all around: Professor Flitwick has taught the gates to recognize Sirius Black from a large photograph taken from _the Prophet_ ; Filch would not stop running up and down the castle, with his cat trotting at his side, shouting at the students. Ritchie, scandalized, declared that the old caretaker is acting as if it's one of the students who let the prisoner get away; also, the Fat Lady has returned to her portrait. The positive side of this was that the Gryffindors no longer had Sir Cadogan at the back of their necks, but the fact that the Fat Lady had requested special protection was quite the downside. Grumpy trolls marched alongside the portraits, mostly spending time comparing the length of their clubs.

"Here's something to laugh about! They don't have anything to hit so they _compared_ the clubs!" Christopher exclaimed, suddenly target to a series of hysterical giggles in the Great Hall during breakfast, and his friends almost even chocked on their food. Ginny was sure that Chris had made half of the Gryffindor table turn around with that bizarrely random and amusing statement.

"Don't scream like that, now everyone's looking at us!" Vicky hissed, obviously angry, while looking around.

At the first light of dawn, Ginny, her friends, in addition to the twins and Lee Jordan, had approached Ron about the details of events from last night, and the story has, to say the least, sent shudders down their spines.

"I had been sleeping, then I a noise, like something that tore, and I thought it was obviously a dream ..." Ron had recited, with dramatic emphasis in his tone, "but it wasn't, because I woke up and one side of the curtain on my bed was gone ... I turned and saw him standing over me … Sirius Black was like a skeleton, with loads of dirty hair ... " while he started to mimic a skeleton and the mass of filthy hair, "and he was holding a very long knife, at least twelve inches … he looked at me and I looked at him, then I screamed and he _scampered_."

But the question everyone had asked was: _why?_

Why did he have to enter the Gryffindor Tower again? What was he looking for from the Tower so important that he could risk being thrown back in Azkaban? Unless ... no, Harry had nothing to do with it. Or perhaps he did? Ginny kept repeating the same questions futilely, without a hope of fathoming an answer. Why didn't Sirius Black silence Ron to stop him from waking up the entire tower or, worse yet, the entire castle? Maybe because he hadn't found what he was looking for and Ron had acted before he could react ... maybe otherwise ...

In the following days, the voices did not subside, and now the news of Sirius Black's escape was in public domain: the students did not know what else to talk about and continued to make a thousand guesses about how Black could have penetrated the castle—again. However, in the meantime, the next game of Quidditch against the Slytherins was also drawing more and more attention, as the date for the game that would decide the winner of Quidditch Cup approaches.

*-.*-.*-.*

"Chris, I already told you!" Vicky was protesting, two days after the fugitive's intrusion into the castle, as she and her friends walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. "The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls went to her brother" she said gesturing towards Ginny, "asking him to tell them about all the details of what happened when Sirius Black was about to attack him, a little bit like we all did, and now they're all boasting that they've met Harry Potter, you know?"

"Who's boasting?" Ginny poked her head between them, suddenly very interested. She wasn't following the conversation at all, but the name of Harry Potter had sufficed to draw her attention immediately.

"The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls from our year" Vicky replied promptly.

"In front of you, Red Head" Ritchie pointed at them with his left index finger before Vicky slapped his hand, hissing something about never pointing to people.

Ginny looked closely at her three Hufflepuff classmates from Herbology, and two Ravenclaws, and found herself thinking, for the umpteenth time since she had known them, that it really was lucky for her and unlucky for them that Harry was not interested in any of those girls, because all of them were really pretty. Colin seemed to be thinking along the same lines: he had never been so quiet in all his life.

"You know, I'm with them when I'm not with you guys," explained the blonde, "and ... yes, Colin, I know those two Ravenclaw girls who seem to particularly attract your attention."

Colin chuckled, and so did Ginny. "Of course she does!" the redhead said, nudging her friend.

"Those are busy there staring," Christopher cut short.

"And at whom?"

"At me of course!"

Colin burst out laughing, and William exclaimed brightly: "Cause you've a horn on your head!"

"drop it, you three, what were you saying, Vic?" urged Ritchie, who had also been particularly silent all the way and at that moment seemed rather curious. Demelza, on the other hand, plunged her head deeper into a heavy library book, though the place would never allow the silence for concentration, but sometimes, well, her thirst for knowledge went beyond mundane trifles of the school corridor.

"I was saying that I know almost all of them from last year because of my family." Vicky continued, seeming quite satisfied that someone would listen to her for so long. "They are mostly purebloods and those I have known for a long time have parents in the Ministry, like mine."

"And you know the boys too?" Ginny asked curiously. Christopher and William began to make squealing sounds, talking like high-pitched little girls and Demelza silenced them by hitting the large library book in their heads.

"Only those Hufflepuffs because they are in class with us," the blonde replied, "and some older Ravenclaws."

Ginny was opening her mouth to say something, but was interrupted suddenly by a small terrified cry of anguish, coming from the Gryffindor table in the Great hall. Arching her eyebrows with a look of agreement among her friends, Ginny quickened her steps to follow Vicky, who, the redhead was sure, was ready to run towards anything happening, for her curiosity; Colin immediately started talking rapidly about the fact that the cry was definitely inhuman. They were only a few yards from the Great Hall when ... _bam_ : Neville Longbottom was practically on top of Ginny, who almost fell to the ground. He held a steaming, scarlet envelope in his hands, an envelope Ginny never wished to receive in her life. Neville was holding the Howler.

"S-sorry!" the boy stammered loudly.

"Don't worry..." Ginny began cordially, but a shriek covered her words. She could see many first years' jaws dropping, who were probably Muggle-born, or had just never seen a Howler in action; everyone else, of course, had witnessed her brother's fiasco last year.

"NEVILLE, IN THE NAME OF THE GOD, HOW CAN YOU WRITE THE PASSWORDS ON A SHEET FOR THEN TO LOSE IT?" Neville's grandmother was furious, her echoing inside the Entrance Hall. Ginny, if she were in Neville's place, would have died of shame. There was a grave silence in the corridor, and if it had not been for the mad screams of Neville's grandmother, a pin drop would have been heard. "A PERFECTLY IDIOTIC THING TO DO!"

Neville whimpered, trying to creep into the crowd and escape.

"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOUR FRIENDS!" Mrs. Longbottom was not about to give up so quickly and Neville, whining even more, was now pushing everyone in order to pass, throwing a hazarded look at Ginny and others present—some of whom under the grip of a crisis of giggles—and ran away with his grandmother's voice unfading. "YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME TO OUR ENTIRE FAMILY! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF THE MURDER OF ONE OF YOUR..."

"... friend" Chris finished, with hilarity. The crowd was gradually dispersed now that Neville had left with the Howler, even though many people still stood stunned in the Entrance Hall.

Ginny was too busy pitying Neville Longbottom to talk.

"What a day for that boy," said William, breaking that stifling silence. "Should we go?" he added.

"Yeah, come on," Ritchie urged them as Colin, arm-in-arm with Vic, made her spill the names of the Ravenclaw girls.

"I would not want to be him; did you see what a grandmother made him look like?" Christopher said with a shudder, entering the Great Hall. The Slytherins held their stomach with laughter and anyone could have guessed why.

Ginny sighed, feeling endlessly sorry for Neville. "But ... _why always him?_ "

*-.*-.*-.*

The days passed and Sirius Black's, or Ron's, or Neville Longbottom's escape was no longer the top topic of conversation, much to the relief of the latter, who had told Ginny that he had never been so sad in all his life. Ginny, who trying to comfort him, had indeed said that nobody would care after a short while and so it was. Neville had ran to her, risking tripping over his cloak, and had told her that he had been forgiven by her grandmother.

That evening, the Gryffindor Common Room was in jubilation: it was the night before the Quidditch match.

"I cannot concentrate with all this noise!" Demelza shouted, slamming her book shut with a bang. That evening, the Weasley twins were more prone to instill chaos than ever (and more inclined to involve everyone in that sort of pre-game party) and that really was a great misfortune for Demelza, who was seriously trying to focus on the topic of Witch Hangings.

Ginny had been tempted by Fred and George but she really had to start the essay herself.

"Demelza is absolutely right, I'll do it tomorrow," Christopher said, catching the excuse immediately and started packing up his stuff, "let's go and enjoy the party! Will, Ritchie ... Colin, are we going?" he urged, throwing his bag away.

"Coming!" William replied, obviously could not wait; Ritchie also immediately put his stuff away.

The boys joined the mob of the crowd.

"Girls, aren't you coming?" Colin asked, stopping before creeping into the Gryffindor party. "The atmosphere here is incredible, it's not time to study! Really Ginny, I never expected this from you, I mean, let's go have fun!"

Ginny was tempted for the second time, but under the accusing glare of Demelza, she remained in her place, _almost_ sending Colin to go enjoy himself but he continued to insist. Vicky had already disappeared from the Common Room because she was far behind with homework and Ginny would have to do the same; but the atmosphere was, as Colin had said, incredible, even if she had to do her homework she wouldn't have missed this in the world, that little party. The important thing was that Demelza managed to care about that damned subject so that she could pass it on to her.

"Demelza..." the redhead started, half an hour later as she watched William take a sip of butterbeer from a fifth-year-old boy, who looked like he was not going to sleep so early.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE GOBLIN SAID?" George shouted to the giggling crowd.

"Demelza" Ginny repeated, raising her voice pleadingly, "I can't do anything ... can you let me copy your essay?"

She looked scandalized, but later gave it to her.

"You are my saviour!"

The noise was not the only reason Ginny could not do her essay. The truth was that she had no idea how to start it, or what to put in it, also because the essay is on the Boggart... what could she be expected to ever write?

 **Topic: Boggart.**

 _The Boggarts are mysterious and monstrous creatures that can give you a heart attack at any moment, as it has happened to me, and my friends can confirm the ghostly pallor of my face. You never know if the person you find yourself in front of is a Boggart or the real Tom Riddle, and this causes anxiety, sweating, sudden draining of colours, and as if this was not enough, panic attacks in worse cases._

 _End._

 _Ps: I thank Professor Remus Lupin for understanding my many symptoms at the sight of a Boggart._

It would have been a really interesting essay, an essay that deserved a full 0.

"But are you sure you want to copy from mine?" Demelza asked shyly, trying not to look her friend in the eye. "Well, my essay ends... differently, in some respects..." she was clearly uncomfortable and Ginny did not want to put her in trouble.

"Don't worry" the girl reassured her, with a smile, "I'll say that T-Tom Riddle was a guy who always made fun of me and that ... he was a friend of my brother and that I ... I hated him to death, so I justify my fear," the redhead concluded.

"Oh, Ginny, I don't think that will work," said Demelza, looking at her in the eyes, "Professor Lupin is a smart man and he will have asked McGonagall for information, I'm almost certain!"

"Can you pretend to be on my side at least for once?" Ginny snapped, with growing anger.

"I'm just worried about you!" Demelza's voice was cracked.

"I'll manage," Ginny cut short impatiently.

Demelza looked at her darkly, then sadly turned her shoulders and climbed upstairs. Ginny, in spite of the chaos, was angry with herself and found herself once again thinking she had been a little grumpy with a person as sensitive as she was, but she wasn't intelligent like Demelza was, she could not contain her anger. It was only when Fred and George began to stuff her sweets and the Gryffindor Quidditch captain yelled "team, to bed!" that Ginny joined her friends in the dorm.

*-.*-.*-.*

On the day of the game, Ginny and Demelza were both extremely formal with each other, which Ginny could not bear because even curtly asking her to pass the juice jug was embarrassing. Moreover, each of them wanted to have a conversation for longer than five exchanges ... with little success, unfortunately. That morning, the situation was like:

 _"Can you pass that jug, please?"_

 _"To me, you were saying?"_

 _"Yup..."_

 _"Ah"_

 _"C-can you pass it, please?"_

 _"Sure!"_

 _"Thank you"_

 _"T-that's nothing"_

 _"Yup..."_

 _"Ok..."_

The others could not begin to understand anything and threw terrified glances at the two girls, as if they were both particularly out of their minds. And that was precisely the impression they made on the boys. If Ginny could have read their minds she would surely see everyone thinking the same thing: the psychiatric ward of St. Mungo was the only solution.

That morning was also _that_ morning! The morning of the Quidditch game! Why the hell had Ginny had flung herself at Demelza, last night of all nights? This morning they should be together as always, even more than usual, to cheer ... but no. Because the redhead had always been impulsive, and had ruined everything.

"Harry Potter has a Firebolt, Ritchie, _a_ Firebolt," Vicky repeated, excited as ever, "don't you think... oh don't you understand, the cup will be ours, you know, the cup will really be ours by the end of the morning!"

"It seems to me the least!" Ritchie replied, although sounding not so caught up with joy.

"I cannot wait for the game to start"

"I want to see the Firebolt dart in the field!"

"I want to see the team holding the cup under the Slytherins' noses!"

The boys burst out laughing, except for Christopher and Colin, who had left the conversation to talk about girls instead, since Quidditch really didn't matter to them, despite loving to watch the games. Ginny was still laughing when she managed to say, "But first, I would want to see Harry waving the Snitch under Malfoy's nose!"

Demelza was the first to laugh at this, then nodded, having gone all purple.

"That will be the first thing we'll see, of course," said William, amused, in all his royal haughtiness. Ginny vividly thought that her dark-haired friend with the grey eyes was really a guy to fall for, especially when the corners of his mouth were rippled in a smile... but all those thoughts were driven away as soon as Harry Potter entered Great Hall, with Ron, Hermione and the rest of the team trotting at his side, greeted by a thunderous applause.

Christopher managed a glance behind his head.

"What is the...?" Colin said, disoriented. "Oh, it's Harry!" he added with a shriek and joined the applause.

Ginny and the others also joined in the long applause, and the girl watched a smiling Harry glancing at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw table, then pass them at the sneering Slytherins. Malfoy, looking at them as if he wanted to kill them on the spot, was paler than usual: he looked almost greenish, perhaps from his nervousness.

 _You deserve it_ , thought the redhead with a big smile.

The rest of the breakfast passed in the best way possible, and with Harry a few feet away from her, Ginny could not even swallow a slice of toast while watching him receive advice from Oliver Wood, the team captain. When everyone had finished their breakfast, they got up and Ginny urged their friends to make a move because she wanted to follow the whole team out of the Great Hall and, to tell the truth, especially Harry.

"Stop the hormones, Red Head ... _I'm stuck_!" shouted Christopher, starting to laugh hysterically. Ritchie came back a moment and pulled him with all his strength, before following the mass directly to the stands, as Chris shouted to go slower and cursed in Ancient Runes.

"Good luck, Harry!" a really pretty girl shouted and Ginny turned to look at her as she rose from the Ravenclaw table. Certainly she had seen her from somewhere but didn't remember where: shorter than Harry by at least a head, with Asian features, dark almond eyes, straight black hair, and a physique ... Quidditch! That's where she had seen her, the girl: she was the Ravenclaw Seeker. Hence she was also ...

"... the girl that Harry _absolutely_ refused knocking off her broom?" Vic asked suddenly, staring at her interestedly.

Yes, that's right, Ginny thought with anger bubbling up in her stomach.

Demelza gave Vicky an elbow in the ribs. "Let's move, come on," she said, trying to distract her.

"Who was that?" Colin asked, looking back at her as Chris, William and Ritchie tried to keep up with the team, far ahead of the others. "Did you see how Harry smiled, is he dating her?" "I don't think her height fits, no, not in any way! Harry needs a red-haired girl with brown eyes!"

"Oh, _who was that?_ " the red all but roared, interrupting Colin despite the pleasing images aroused in her head—she's still on an empty stomach, of course she's not perfectly happy.

Vicky seemed to realize the umpteenth threatening glare that Ginny sent in her direction, so hastened to say: "I will investigate, I promise ... But you will ..."

 _Kill her when the chance comes to you?_

"... kill her only when you find out what she's got with your Harry," Vicky completed, with a wink.

A condition seemed to catch Ginny, "and so be it!" she retorted perkily.

With a knowing look between Demelza and Colin, they both walked away.

*-.*-.*-.*

Gryffindor was in the lead eighty to twenty.

The crowd was caught with all the breath in their throats, and Ginny screamed again and again Harry's name: If the boy captures the Golden Snitch quickly, before that snake of a Malfoy, the Cup would have gone to the Gryffindors.

Suddenly, the Firebolt abruptly changed direction and Ginny turned to see Harry chasing Malfoy, who was smirking triumphantly because the Snitch was a mere dozen feet from him. But Harry did not give up: flattened on the glittering broomstick, he and accelerated, and ... swooped down on the Golden Snitch.

The crowd was in turmoil: they had won the Quidditch Cup.

"WE WON! WE WON THE CUP!" someone shrieked.

"THE LION CUP!"

"GRYFFINDOR WON! WE WON!"

Ginny shrieked with the others and poured into the field, following Colin, his camera continuously flashing away. Everyone embraced triumphantly: the Cup was in the hands of the team. There was Hagrid roaring, there was Percy, all dignity forgotten, jumping up and down like a madman, there was McGonagall who sobbed like never before, there was the team that laughed and cried at the same time, and there were Ron and Hermione, simply beaming at Harry. There were Christopher, William and Ritchie, doing a kind of ballet under for the euphoria, there was Colin snapping pictures while jumping right and left, there were Vicky and Demelza hugging each other and ... Ginny literally flew at her friends but first of all she squeezed Demelza, screaming out her apologies.

"I'm so sorry, but we won, but I'm sorry, but the cup is ours!" shouted Ginny, logic lost as the Slytherins lost the cup.

"I love you!" Demelza shrieked in tears.

"Me too!" Ginny returned.

And yes, yes: it should be said that Quidditch really was a good medicine against attacks of sadness, anger or sudden pouting, and a great excuse to make peace with a person you're in a long fight with, but what both the girls learnt from that day was that the word 'Quidditch' meant just harmony.

* * *

 _ **There's the chapter, hope you enjoyed it! We're almost at the end of the book- now it suddenly hits me that all the time turner business won't be here... that's a shame.**_

 _ **Welp, what do you think? Like the story? Please review and tell us! Until then, see you next week!**_

 _ **~Helena H. (editor)**_

 _ **Translator and owner of the account and my favorite Italian cheesy Hufflepuff who actually has a much better work ethic than me: Ermory**_

 **Next: Goodbye Hogwarts _(oh my, already)_**


	21. Goodbye Hogwarts

_**Hey, Helena here, and yet again we cut the Sunday upload line thinner *facepalm* so here's the deal guys whenever the upload is late you know it's probably me. Okay it goes both ways, whenever I upload it would probably be late. Ermory is traveling so we can't really blame her.**_

 _ **Anyways umm enjoy the chapter!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: We don't own this. The characters and plot belong to JK Rowling and the original story is written by EmPotter. We just tranlste and edit.**_

 _ **The original story can be found in Itailan on EFPfanfic, called ' Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'**_

* * *

 **Goodbye Hogwarts**

The euphoria of Gryffindors finally winning the Quidditch Cup remained for the entire next week, that even the days and the weather seems to be celebrating with them. Under the days of June that were gradually getting warmer, Ginny and her friends spent most of their time wandering in the meadows around the castle, throwing themselves among the flowering shrubs, or splashing in the water, feeding the Giant Squid with Hagrid's rock cake.

Nevertheless, as time continued passing, they couldn't do much of that anymore: the exams were approaching. For the second year students it's particularly horrible, since it's their first exams. As for Ginny, she finally started studying when she saw, in horror, Fred and George bent over books in the library, studying for their O.W.L.s; and Percy, preparing for the N.E.W.T.s (the highest qualification Hogwarts offered), becoming irritable as never before, screaming and punishing a pair of lively fifth year Gryffinors.

The exams were just around the corner now. For Ginny's nervousness, the first exam, scheduled for that Monday, was Transfiguration.

Demelza seemed to have swallowed a toad, her eyes were twitching with anxiety and the nervousness there could kill: she repeated one after the other the transfiguration spells McGonagall had given them, such as the one turning animals into a glass goblet, and spent every free moment staring into the air drawing invisible numbers and complicated formulas; Colin, like Demelza, exhibited his nervousness by talking in rapid bursts, even much more than he already did on normal occasions, and by shooting strings of nonsense one after another, disturbing the quiet mind of every student; Ginny, Vicky (who's almost constantly trying to rip her flesh with all her fingernails), and Ritchie talked only when it was absolutely necessary; while Christopher and William seemed, albeit slightly tense, confident enough.

After they had their first exam, they really discovered that what was supposed to be the most difficult test had turned out to be not so bad at all, partly because McGonagall had not been as strict as usual and had tried to ease the tension by not showing her serious frown to her students who, in one way or another, managed to transfigure matches, buttons and small canaries. Demelza had full marks. That afternoon was also the Charms exam, with the little Professor Flitwick under a Cheering Charm, for which the students were really grateful. For the written exams, special anti-cheating quills were administered, charmed with a spell that prevents them from copying.

"Which basically means," Ritchie exclaimed indignantly. "they do not trust us!"

But the exams with Snape were the worst ever: the overgrown bat glided through the room, breathing on the back of their neck while they, nervous and turning occasionally to check whether Snape had disappeared from their shoulders, tried to remember the ingredients for the Forgetful Potion. Ginny was more nervous about having Snape behind her than doing a difficult Potions exam, and that was saying something. On Tuesday morning, she got through History of Magic; Herbology on Wednesday; Defense Against the Dark Arts on Thursday morning with Professor Lupin.

Ginny knew that the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam would be fantastic with her favorite professor, also because a look at the lawn told them it's a nice exam. Lupin had prepared a strange obstacle course right there on the school lawn, placing between obstacles the magical creatures studied that year: they were to deal with the small and mischievous Pixies, brought in the year before by Professor Lockhart but never addressed; make their way through trunks containing small slimy creatures; fighting a test dummy that tried to prevent them from moving on to the next obstacle; and coping with a boggart.

"Very simple, no?" Lupin said, with a big smile.

Ginny watched her friends face the tests, thinking she had never seen a more amusing examination than that: Alice, Rose and Vicky fell on the overflowing trunks and shrieked like crazy when the slimy creatures clung to their arms, wrapping them in a disgustingly sticky fashion; Colin spent so much time trying to get the Pixies out of his way, that they seemed to have taken a particular liking to him; Ritchie, William, and Christopher did everything right, but they were slow enough in trying to pass the test dummy; Demelza did not seem to have passed the Boggart.

"Oh, heaven!" she shrieked, running towards Professor Lupin, shaken with tears. "Professor!"

"Demelza, what happened?" Lupin shouted, slightly scared.

"There were the p-professors ... with M-McGonagall ... they told me that I will fail in e-everything..."

Alice and Rose giggled but the others did not, even though everyone was really tempted and Ginny was not far behind. Christopher and Ritchie offered to take Demelza to the hospiral wing to be calmed, and Professor Lupin called out to Ginny who, as usual, was the last one yet to complete her exam. Now the eyes of her friends were all fixed on her.

"Come on, Ginevra!" Lupine exclaimed.

"Don't call me Ginevra..." the girl muttered to herself angrily, and advanced towards the path.

She did not even move a step before the Pixies were immediately all over her, starting to pull her hair and tickle her all over. Ginny nearly panicked, but then remembered something Hermione had told her about those bizarre blue electric bees, that a simple freezing spell was enough to get them completely out of the game-

"Immobulus!" Ginny shouted, pointing her wand at the Pixies, and they froze immediately in mid-air.

Pleased, she headed for the trunks, and as soon as she entered their area they began to shake violently.

 _Now or never,_ the girl thought, and ran fast, shouting "Finite Incantatem!" right and left, before the creatures emerged from the trunks that had sent girls screaming- except Demelza, who was really agile. She reminded Ginny very much of a Chaser moving between the Bludgers to score, and told herself that perhaps, one day, he would force her to show up for the Quidditch team trials. When it was time for the dummy, she set off on impulse and disarmed it with an Expelliarmus, which Professor Lockhart had taught them the year before in the Dueling Club, then she prepared to deal with the Boggart.

As Ginny turned, she glanced at Lupin: he was worried. Then she noticed that Demelza, Christopher, and Ritchie had returned and that the rest of her friends were there, trying to pass on as much support as possible. Tom Riddle appeared suddenly from inside the closet and firmly walked towards her- the same way he walked out of the diary the year before- Ginny tried not to think about anything and, trying not to look into the eyes of the boy she once believed to be her friend, exclaimed: " _Riddikulus_!"

Alice and Rose snorted when the charming Tom disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Great, Ginerva, full marks!" Professor Lupin roared, smiling encouragingly.

No one had had full marks except for her: her friends ran forward and hugged her tightly. Yes, Ginny had not forgotten Tom Riddle, and she was sure that she wouldn't even if they Obliviated her brain, but now that boy belonged only to her nightmares, he belonged to the past, and although the memories hurt her more than she admitted, she was happy to have defeated him.

He had certainly made her stronger than she had ever been.

\- . - . - . - . - . - . -

Demelza always enjoyed reviewing the spells and formulas from the exams but, as William rightly said, doing them once was more than enough, one only had to enjoy the last days of school in peace and serenity. That evening was spent in the best way, with the twins turning the Common Room upside down with Filibuster Arctic Fires. The next morning, the day of departure for the summer holidays, they were all happy to have finally finished school and many of them still seemed to have their heads in the festivities, especially the Slytherins, who were more excited than ever and kept miming wolf howls in an idiotic and childish way. And who knows _why_.

"... Snape told the Slytherins, I'm not lying to you!" a Hufflepuff protested, sounding offended, when Ginny and friends passed between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor table. Colin immediately turned to his friends, beginning to show his ability to never shut up.

"Did you hear it too?" he asked, raising his voice. "Did you hear what he said, that one there? It couldn't have been just me; you guys were right behind me! That Hufflepuff just said ..."

"Sshhhhhh" Vicky hissed, covering his mouth and taking a seat on the bench.

"We heard, we heard!" William became impatient, taking his place too.

The others, including Ginny, were still looking at Hufflepuff, trying to figure out what the boy was really saying to his friends, and they were curious to know what Snape had said to the Slytherin specifically to make them so excited, more hysterical than usual... _howling_.

Ginny looked at the teachers' table and saw a certain change: something had certainly happened.

"Look at Snape ..." the girl whispered.

She noticed that the only teacher looking cheerful was just Severus Snape, who stared around at everyone (especially the Slytherins) with a certain wild cheer in his eyes and with a strange crooked grin: something rather strange. Usually Snape had it with everyone, even the teachers- especially Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, because as the older students said, he wanted that job more than any other person in the world and no one knew why Dumbledore did not give it to him. But if he began to look excitedly at _everyone_ there was something wrong. The empty seat at the teacher's table belonged to Lupin.

"Mmh, ugly as usual" Christopher noted with a shrug, and began eating.

"Uglier than usual" Ritchie corrected, staring at the professor.

"Why is Professor Lupin not there?" Demelza said, stretching her neck. "Do you believe that-"

She did not finish his sentence, because Dumbledore got up and went to the lectern, where he usually did his speeches. Ginny looked as he cleared his throat declaring a happy summer, since the carriages at the entrance were waiting for them alone. A pause and then ... began to explain the successful escape of Sirius Black, calming the students and telling them that they were no longer in danger because Black had escaped very far from there. He told of the fact that three students had come face to face with Sirius Black, who, thanks to Professor Lupin and Professor Snape, were safe and sound in the Infirmary.

Ginny looked around: her brother, Harry, and Hermione were missing. She paled visibly.

"What's going on with you?" William asked, staring at her worriedly.

"Merlin, you're as white as the yogurt that you're eating ..." Colin mumbled through a mouthful of breakfast.

Ginny did not answer because Dumbledore continued with his own speech. "So, we assure you that you will all be no longer in any danger: Sirius Black has no reason to do more harm to you ... Also note that the next year will welcome a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Now, please continue with your meal." he concluded cheerfully and went to sit back down at the teachers' table.

The Slytherins howled and Snape grinned even more. McGonagall glared at him furiously.

"Ginny!" Demelza snapped her fingers in front of her eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'll be right back ..." she declared weakly and darted away from the Great Hall, leaving her breakfast half finished.

She headed at full speed to the infirmary, with a lot of questions that swirled in her mind desiring to know everything with precision and details, because she was tired of always knowing things halfway, and that made her mind tremendously tired and confused. She had to know if the three students Black had attacked were really her brother and his friends, even if it seemed obvious. She was also curious to find out what's wrong with the Slytherin, from their howling to Snape's grin, to why Professor Lupin was leaving. Perhaps, since he tended to get sick many times (which often happened that year with Snape annoying taking substitute), he couldn't continue staying at the castle because his presence would be discontinuous? Probably, the girl answered herself. When he reached the infirmary corridor, stopping fast and breathless, she was not surprised to see Ron and Hermione together, walking toward her, chatting and moving further and further away from the castle infirmary.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?" Ron shouted, before his sister hugged him, literally flying at him. "Bloody hell…" he added, embarrassed, giving Hermione a fleeting glance.

"You were the ones who were hurt by Sirius Black, weren't you?"

"Oh... we're fine, really..." Ron reassured her, stroking her hair.

"What did Dumbledore tell you, Ginny?" Hermione asked when the girl broke away from her brother.

Ginny took a breath and began to tell what Dumbledore had said, while Ron and Hermione listened curiously, nodding at each statement and occasionally glancing at each other from time to time. "Why does Professor Lupin go away?" Ginny asked finally.

"Er ..." Ron said.

"Because Professor Lupin is ..."

"What?"

"Well, Lupin is ... oh, Ginny, Professor Lupin is a Werewolf!" Hermione declared hurriedly, and Ginny's eyes and mouth widened at the same time, shocked and incredulous of what the girl had just said. _What do you mean Professor Lupin was a Werewolf?_ It was a joke. "No, it's not a joke," Hermione added, as if reading her mind.

"B-But, how is it possible?"

"You didn't have to tell her!" Ron snapped, crossing his arms to his chest.

"Oh, Ron, she is old enough to face the truth!" Hermione replied, flushing immediately.

The Slytherins at breakfast came to Ginny's mind for a moment.

"And that's why the Slytherins were howling today and Snape was grinning like that..." Ginny said in a whisper.

It didn't seem real, it was shocking news. Yes, it was shocking, but she was not afraid to have found herself face to face all year with a Werewolf, in fact, it didn't scare her at all. It surprised her, that's all. Because it seemed impossible to her that Lupin really was a Werewolf: it's something that would never have crossed her mind. It was like saying that Professor Dumbledore was a Hippogriff, or that Hagrid was a little elf.

"Snape was grinning, that son of-" Ron began furiously, but Hermione interrupted him.

"He would have told all the Slytherins, and now the whole school will come to know it in no time, poor Lupin!"

"He was the best Defense teacher we've ever had!" Ginny protested, ruminating on the evil abyss in which Snape could sink to have the position of the Defense teacher. "Lupin can't leave! Just because Snape told everyone he's a Werewolf that doesn't mean he has to leave!"

"I'm afraid so," answered a voice behind the girl and she turned abruptly. It was Lupin.

"Professor!" Ginny and Hermione exclaimed. Lupin smiled broadly: he looked very sick.

Ginny realized that he looked so much older than usual, and wondered if Ron, Hermione and Harry had found in front of themselves a fully grown Werewolf during their little face-to-face adventure with Sirius Black himself. The girl looked down and noticed that at his feet there was a trunk: a terrible, terrible sign.

"They fired her?" Ginny asked weakly.

"In fact, I had resigned," Lupine replied, still smiling.

"Snape made it huge!" Ron snorted, annoyed. Hermione seemed to be for the first time in agreement with Ron.

"You wouldn't leave just for this?" Ginny insisted, wanting to persuade in every way for Lupin to stay.

"No parent ever wanted a Werewolf to be the teacher of their children," Lupin said, and this time his tone was melancholy. Ginny felt an emptiness in her chest that had nothing to do with the missing breakfast. Lupin seemed to noticed, and added: "A really brilliant exam from you, Professor McGonagall told me what happened last year and I must say that this year you managed to overcome your greatest fear with courage."

 _Thank you_ , she wanted to say, but the girl had a lump in her throat that didn't even allow her to breathe.

"The victims of Voldemort" Professor Lupin continued, looking intently at the girl, as Ron held his breath, "they are always the bravest people, remember that- always remember that."

And having said that he turned to the other two and, nodding his head, turned away from them, declaring that one day, and he was sure, they would surely see each other again. Ginny was sure of that too, but when Professor Lupin stepped through the front door that would later take her to the carriage downstairs, she already could not wait to see him again, and the chasm in his chest did not shrink.

\- . - . - . - . - . - . -

"Hell ... I can't believe it! I liked Lupin!" Demelza wailed, sitting on the train. The Hogwarts Express was already in the open country and the cows were grazing happily in the fields while the children talked about what's been happening recently, ready to go home for the summer holidays.

"Everyone did except those _demented_ Slytherins!" William replied, throwing down his Chocolate Frog with ferocity. Demelza began to arrange her bag with the books she had borrowed from the library, smoothing them as if they were newborn puppies, under the amused gaze of her friends. "I cannot believe Snape really _let it slip_ that Lupin was a Werewolf, so what if he is, who cares?"

"The parents of the students," Ritchie replied, but he too was annoyed.

Vicky sipped her juice, glaring at the Slytherins near their compartment as if she wanted to burn them all up. And it was probably just what she, as well as all the other students, wanted to do.

"We had a Werewolf as a teacher, I can not believe it." Christopher commented, with his usual tones. "And those damned Slytherins are always there to ruin everything ... they will pay dear!"

"You can say it for sure!" Colin replied and went over to give Christopher a five.

"Who precisely would be paying dear?"

Ginny turned, her red hair swinging: Astoria Greengass had been talking, at the head of a gang of Slytherins made up of the rest of the girls along with Harper, Jugson and Selwyn, the only Slytherin boys tagging along with this group. At the same time, Ginny, Colin and Christopher rose to face them, defiantly.

"You" Ginny punctuated, feeling as though she would ignite, while Demelza quietly whispered something about how she would now surely and unquestionably put herself in trouble, "and the other idiots of your dear House that got Professor Lupin fired!"

"Did we really do it?" said Harper, faking worry.

"Get out of here! You won't get away with it this time, you fired Professor Lupin!" Colin squeaked, managing to stand up to Harper, who was really powerful for his age. Christopher made a vulgar gesture with his hand, and Vicky, for the first time, approved the boy's uncivilized ways, raised her thumbs in approval. Demelza and Ritchie seemed troubled to have Slytherins there. William enjoyed his Chocolate Frog quietly.

"You really are cowards, you Slytherins! If only Lupin could have turned into a wolf when he had a lesson with you-"

"Oh, shut up, you idiot _Mudblood_ ," Selwyn snapped.

Colin blushed. Demelza opened her mouth, horrified, and, with a look of deep disgust and anger, began to scream and protest loudly against those Slytherins, every rule and every piece of dignity forgotten. Following her example, even Ginny and the others began to protest against them but never as much as Demelza, who seemed almost to have lost her mind. The insult of Muggle-born disgusted her not just a little.

"Oh, shut up, buck," Astoria said curtly, when Demelza's voice reached a sharp tone.

"Leave them alone, Astoria," said Grace Bennet, a girl with hard features and fair hair perfectly in order every time, "I heard that the only friends she can afford are those and the boring ones never heard of _social life_ , Robins?"

Firstly, Demelza's eyes filled with tears, then all the boys started off with insults, with Vicky captaining everything with her shrill voice, which was becoming more and more like Demelza's before Astoria interrupted her. Ginny could not take it any more: she knew that the insults slipped off the Slytherins like rain off the windows. The girl drew her wand, pointed it at Grace, and with a spell that the twins had taught her that year, she attacked: Grace moved with surprising speed and the spell caught Jugson, who twisted and began to laugh, clinging to his companions, who moved from him and ran away, cursing. Harper, before leaving definitively, took him by the scruff of the neck and carried the other boy with him, disgusted.

"But ... SWEET!" Christopher roared, patting festively on Ginny's shoulder.

"You have to teach me that spell!" William immediately exclaimed, fascinated. "Did you see how that Jugson idiot laughed? I bet no one ever saw him like that, you were too kind to him, in my opinion."

"It was the only spell that came to mind!" Ginny protested, smiling, as a defense. "Those are Serpents, the insults don't make him hot or cold, I had to do something more!"

"Really a fantastic shot, Red Head!" Ritchie exclaimed and nodded vigorously.

Demelza and Vicky got up from the seat and hugged her, while Colin began to tangle her red hair ungraciously; everyone celebrated happily, teasing Jugson and his tremendously silly and funny laugh. While she was in the arms of her friends and the train was slowing down more and more, Ginny brought to mind something that had totally escaped her earlier, something very important that would have made her Quidditch fan friends even more excited, even though they probably already know about the great news…

"Hey, I almost forgot: this year there will be the Quidditch World Cup! Will you guys come?"

"I know about it; of course, I'll be there, I can't wait!" exclaimed Demelza, lighting up immediately and letting go of her friend. "My parents work at the Ministry and they will have already booked tickets for me and my little sister, even if we still do not know if she is a witch or not ... we believe she might be a Squib."

"What is a Squib?" Colin asked suddenly, curious.

"Yeah, what's that?" Christopher echoed; although he grew up with wizards he ignored many things in their world.

"One who was born into a wizarding family but possess no magical abilities." Demelza replied grimly.

A silence filled with regret followed, then Vicky spoke. "Anyway, I'll be there, my mum would not want to miss it: she is the director of the Sports Department, and it seems to me the least she would want is coming to see the World Cup!"

"Wow, I would not miss the Quidditch Cup for anything in the world!" Ritchie exclaimed, getting up to prepare his stuff.

Ginny followed his move and climbed onto a seat to retrieve her trunk, as the train finally slowed down to a stop at platform nine and three quarters: some tiny kids yet to begin at Hogwarts chased the train to find their siblings. Ginny, between the chaos outside the window, could not make out her parents' silhouettes but she was sure they would be in the usual place, next to the railroad wall.

"I would love to come but my mother is a Muggle ... how the hell do I tell her without giving her a heart attack?" William said, annoyed, as he prepared to part.

They hurried with their stuff, ready to step off the Hogwarts Express and enjoy the freedom of the moment. The train stopped altogether and the students poured out, cheerful and carefree, reaching their families. Ginny caught a glimpse of the twins, walking in one direction, and began to follow them, convinced that they would take her to the Weasleys. With her friends trotting beside her and still talking about the Quidditch World Cup, she stretched her neck between the crowd to join her parents, who were waiting there at the station in some remote corner.

"Pig! Would'ya find your own!" blurted a tiny girl, running through the crowd.

Ginny giggled. " _Pigwidgeon_?" She repeated, confused and amused.

"It was 'Pig, Find your own'; for the record, she also had a cold, Red Head," William replied, barely repressing a laugh. Demelza and Christopher, on the other hand, burst out straight away.

"Oh, there's my father! I'm glad he did not bring mother too: she would not stop asking about magic, we'll talk to you by letter, write to me!" and having said that, Will darted away from the crowd to join his father, a tall and handsome man, who looked very much like him.

"That's where William got his looks from ..." Vicky mumbled, mischievous and with a tinkling giggle, "see you at the World Cup!"

"Bye! see you!" Demelza and Ritchie shouted in unison, walking away with Vicky to find their families.

"I will write to you all, I promise!" Colin exclaimed and approached his parents, who seemed profoundly confused and looked at the railroad barrier with fright, as if they could not wait to get out of that chaos of wizards.

"I hope I'll come to the cup, redhead," Christopher declared, when in the crowd they remained alone, while pushing through the crowd "I know there will be many pretty girls there and I don't know if I can stay indoors with that," he chuckled and made the girl giggle.

"Christopher, move!" a corpulent man roared.

"Coming, coming!" Chris shouted back, moving away. "I'll write to let you know about the Cup, Ginny!" he added.

When Ginny finally joined her parents, thanks to Fred and George, her mother hugged her as if she had not seen her for years. Holding her hand, they set off for the platform barrier, with her father who would not stop messing her hair and screaming at Fred and George to be careful where they put their feet, because they almost tripped an old lady.

"I'll call about the World Cup!" Ron shouted to Harry, who was moving away to join his uncle and aunt. Ginny became a delicate shade of pink, thinking about the fact that she would be spending some time with Harry Potter that summer. Well, what did you expect? It was obvious that Ron invited his best friend. The same would be true for Hermione: she will also be there for sure.

"I knew you would invite him," Ginny said, turning to her brother, smile betraying herself. Ron, in fact, chuckled swiftly as they walked out to the station. "And who is this?" the girl added, changing the subject.

Ron handed her the owl. "My new pet," he replied.

"Hey...Pigwidgeon" Ginny greeted him, remembering the funny name she had heard from the girl with a cold.

" _Pigwidgeon_?" Ron stared, horrified.

"Well, he must have a name, right?" his sister replied cheerfully, stroking the owl.

"Yes, but not this!"

"Pigwidgeon likes his new name, right?" Ginny stroked it and Pigwidgeon cooed happily.

"Bloody Hell, I was meant to give him a name"

"Too late, snail-nold Weasley"

"Stop arguing, you two?" the mother burst brightly, but she was not angry. "Fred! George! Be careful, for heaven's sake! Come on, hurry up, you'll find a wonderful surprise at home ... I can't wait to see my beautiful children, even if I don't understand why Charlie still hasn't gotten engaged… Well, the best news is that Bill has left the Egyptians: I could not wait!"

Ginny opened her mouth and looked at Ron, who stared back with an identical look:

"BILL AND CHARLIE ARE HERE?" They shrieked.

* * *

 _ **Ah, finally! Can't believe we're saying goodbye to Hogwarts again! Here we are reading about their summer as kids that just got into our summer. This is nice.**_

 _ **So, did you like the chapter? Please leave us a review and tell us what you think!**_

 ** _~Helena H. (editor)_**

 ** _Translator and owner of this account: Ermory_**

 ** _P.S. Sorry again about cutting the time urgh._**

 **Next: Weasley Wizarding Wheezes**


	22. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

_**Hey everyone, we're here again! And it's book four! (aaahhhh) But guess what, we're kinda late again and also guess what, it's me Helena. Here I'm thinking I really should have remembered to send this to Ermory before she went out of internet.**_

 _ **Nevertheless, as always, enjoy- enjoy the start of another year!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: We don't own this. The characters and the plot belong to JK Rowling, and the story was originally written by EmPotter in Italian. Ermory and I only translate and (clumsily attempt to) edit.**_

 _ **The original story can be found of EFPfanfic, it's called 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'**_

* * *

 **Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes**

The Weasley summer was passing restlessly, and Ginny told herself that this has been the best summer she had ever spent, partly because Bill and Charlie were here with her, enriching her days. She had always loved them, especially Bill, who as the biggest in the family, always defended her from the practical jokes of the twins, from arguments with Ron, and from the schizophrenic screaming of Percy—who had managed his N.E.W.T.s and started working at the Ministry, which made him even more irremediably unbearable. He adored Mr. Crouch, his superior, to the point that the twins speculated a romantic attraction. They had teased him all the way through one evening and Percy let slip that he was still dating Penelope, which did nothing to improve his situation.

During the summer, Ginny's growth period made her become a beautiful young girl. Leaving the boyish age, her body was starting to show some form - 'and about time!', her mother had exclaimed, embarrassing her in front of her brothers and her father -, her hair had grown at least ten centimeters and her face was reshaping and maturing. The only unresolved problem was her height, but it wasn't a real problem: Eloise Midgen, as Vicky had pointed out through a letter, was shorter than her.

 _"Dear Vicky,_

 _Thanks for the letter but I must say I found a flaw. I know you wanted to console me, to make me not feel bad about being the elf of our group, but about Eloise Midgen, not only is she shorter (and it doesn't really matter), but she's also fatter so the comparison just doesn't work! You have to compare me to someone that at least looks more similar! Alright, you did you best, I'll stop. I'm glad you could come to the Cup; we'll definitely see each other. Colin, William and Christopher won't be coming. Ritchie yes; but Demelza has bad news: she doesn't know whether she'll be coming, still getting over the discovery that her sister is a Squib… I hope to see you soon; the rounds of letters are starting to turn my head over. We are seven people!_

 _Hugs,_

 _Ginny."_

Laughing at the letter he had just written, she stepped out of her warm room and walked into her brother Ron's, with firm and easy steps. Yes, because Ginny was also very much changed in character from the previous year. She was changing, training to lead her to being herself—which is, needless to say, something good for a person who suffered through severe trauma.

"Ron, can I borrow Pig?" She pushed open Ron's door and immediately said.

He yelped and fell onto the floor, hands still clinging to the trousers he was trying to turn over.

"Everything good?" Ginny asked, rather amused by the fall. She's looking at her brother, who was getting up from the floor and trying not to think about the infernal heat in his kind of furnace.

"You'd better be knocking next time," Ron snapped back, pulling up his pants. "Anyway, Pig's right over there, I shouldn't even be lending him to you for that absurd name you gave him. Can't do anything now that he doesn't respond to anything else, so take him anyway."

She did it. "You're sweet, Ronnie," she chuckled, "news of Harry and Hermione?" she then asked.

"In a week we'll go get Hermione from her house first and then get Harry from the Muggles' house. Dad linked our fireplace with them." Ron said, suddenly becoming cheerful.

"Yes, that one's obvious," the girl agreed, nodding. She tied her letter for Vicky onto Pigwidgeon's legs, and the owl, after several flips around the room, flew away into the serene blue sky. "Done!" she concluded, stretching.

"Who was that letter for?" Ron said, staring at her grimly.

"Friend"

"Boyfriend?"

"I said _friend_ ," Ginny replied, amazed. Ron had never had interest in her life, especially the sentimental type. Why did he suddenly become jealous that her little sister was feeling something with some boy? Ginny was thirteen and it was normal that she knew boys. Maybe he thinks it's Harry ... wonder if Ron would be happy with this. For her, that's the most wonderful thing she could ever with for; and what couldn't happen, if Tom Riddle could turn out to be Voldemort.

Ron gave her a big smile and Ginny started to leave when she stopped in the doorway. "Ron ..."

"What?"

"Nice underpants," said Ginny, grimacing. He became purple, then burst out laughing. Ginny started to leave but screams from the rooms below made her stop, her hand still on the door handle. She turned, crossing her brother's gaze, and together they hurried to where the screams were coming, down the stairs until they arrived ... right in Fred and George's room.

What had they done this time? Something to do with those strange explosions happening all summer?

"So what would these _order forms_ be?" Molly Weasley was asking, suspicious and angry. She was all red like a poppy, her jaw was ominously protruding and the one hand on her hips meant open war. Ginny looked at the sheets her mother was holding, not knowing what they were, and from the expressions of the twins she realized that their plan to hide those mysterious forms had gone up in smoke. "What-what is this?" she scanned ferociously, shaking the sheets. "Please do explain! At least twenty— _price lists_ —along with those!"

" _Price lists_?" Ron repeated, incredulous, standing on the threshold like his sister, who had opened her mouth wide.

"Mom, we ..." George tried.

"WHAT IS THE _WEASLEYS' WIZARD WHEEZES_?" she interrupted him with a cry, voice becoming more and more acute, especially emphasising the last three words. _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_... What had Fred and George done now? Ginny was becoming seriously intrigued… "Fake wands ... trick sweets... What _are_ these things?"

"George and I invented them!" Fred exclaimed, red in the face but not remotely as much as his mother. "Give our forms back, we spent a whole year perfecting those things!"

"We wanted to sell them at Hogwarts, make some money and open a jokes shop, we're not interested in graduating," George continued quickly, looking defiantly at his mother, and Ginny nearly slipped off the floor in surprise. Why did the twins never tell her they were going to open a joke shop? And how had this absurd idea come to them?

"A JOKES SHOP?" she shrieked, hand clutching her chest.

If haven't been said: her voice, which must had reached the roof of human hearing range, was a torture for the ears of Ginny and Ron, who really did not know what to do. It swelled all over, like a chicken's, and she started screaming at the twins, yelling so loud that the girl and her brother had to intervene—they had never seen her so angry; she really seemed beside herself and the twins did not help at all in that situation: they seemed more combative than ever. Maybe the store business was serious, maybe for the first time in their life they were serious.

"Mum, calm down!" Ginny shouted, shifting to stand between the twins and Molly Weasley, quite worried about what would happen. A vein throbbed in the mother's temple and her breath was short and irregular, as if after a sprint. All the sheets and forms had fallen to the floor, right in front of Ginny, who caught a fleeting glimpse of the words 'Spell-Check Quills'.

"What's all this noise!"

Percy burst into the room, annoyed by all those screams but not at all worried about the twins, which only made them angrier, and now Fred and George had taken to accuse their mother of not understanding them as she should. He was followed by Bill, Charlie and Arthur: they had probably all catapulted upstairs as soon the screams escalated. Meanwhile, Ron and Ginny, having stepped from the door, were picking up and reading the order forms from the floor.

"What's up, mom?" Bill asked calmly, ignoring Percy and Fred still bickering with each other.

"Molly, what's all this screaming about?" Arthur asked.

"THREE O.W.L.S EACH! _THREE_! ALL FOR A JOKES SHOP!" Molly Weasley screamed, still all purple. She looked crazy: Ginny had never seen her so disappointed. "WANT TO OPEN A JOKES SHOP! _WEASLEY WIZARDING WHEEZES_! LOOK WHAT I FOUND: ORDER FORMS AND PRICE LISTES!"

Molly marched up to Ginny and Ron and snatched the forms from them and nearly slapped them under her husband's nose, causing him to back up in terror. He adjusted his glasses and, slightly frowning and eyebrows creasing, he read.

"GEORGE AND I INVENTED THEM!" Fred immediately retorted, facing his mother.

"WE WORKED A CENTURY TO CREATE OUR PRODUCTS!" George reacted, indignant.

"GOOD WAY TO WAST YOUR TIME! INSTEAD OF STUDYING!" and so saying, the mother, with a gesture of the wand, immediately set fire to the parchments, under the shocked gaze of everyone, especially the twins.

"Mom!" Charlie shouted, his mouth wide open.

"Calm down, Molly!" Arthur intervened, in a loud voice. "I don't think this should ... well, why did you burn them?"

"FIVE YEARS OF MAGIC EDUCATION BUTTED TO THE WIND FOR A STORE OF JOKES, ARTHUR! GET A HANG OF YOURSELF, YOU TWO! I HAD PROSPECTED FOR BOTH OF YOU A CAREER AT THE MINISTRY BUT FROM WHAT YOU ARE YOU WOULD ONLY LIKE TO BE THE BARBONS!"

"Inventing those was not wasting time! And we don't want to work at the ministry at all!" George replied, now he too, like his mother and his twin, livid with rage. "What you want is not what we want, mother!"

"I wanted you to have a respectable future ..." she mumbled, as far as her breath could allow him, "your father and I have made sacrifices—sacrifices for you ..."

Fred and George were saddened and Ginny didn't believe she'd ever seen the twins like that, even at their saddest moments. It was unpleasant to see, having grown up with boys who would prefer to be evaporated rather than be seen frowning in front of the family. And their mother just did not try to understand them. Of course, a Ministry career was a dignified career for the Weasleys, who had always lived in poverty; and despite the many sacrifices, it was a career that everyone wanted to have ... but is it really?

"In my opinion ..." the father intervened quietly, "if this really is their ambition, it doesn't seem to me to be… ruining everything… it's what they want and they're happy about that, Molly. They want to do nonsense as it is," and looked intensely at them.

His wife shook her head sadly. "What a disappointment ... how disappointing ..." she repeated.

"Ahh, this is just like when Charlie said he preferred a dragon than that pretty Brazilian girl!" Bill threw in, trying to ease the tension—and succeeded. The atmosphere in the room was suddenly much lighter: Ginny and Ron laughed while the twins and their father's lips rippled in small smiles. The only serious ones were Molly, Percy and Charlie, who had a raised eyebrow at Bill, even though he didn't look angry at all.

Percy coughed. "Mum's right, Hogwarts is not a waste of time. You're wasting an opportunity, you two."

"And what does it matter to you? You've always only thought about yourself!" Fred blurted angrily.

"Many would have _killed_ to enter the Ministry and you refuse! You don't seem very—"

"You've had enough, Perce!" Ginny interrupted resolutely, staring up at her brother ferociously.

"Let's go down to the kitchen, Molly, and you two as well: we have to talk," Arthur declared, even more determined than his daughter.

Molly Weasley marched to the door and disappeared, the twins followed her; Arthur, with a glance at his children that said "stay right where you are", closed the door behind him. Percy followed to immediately disappear, mumbling about relations in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and thickness of cauldrons, leaving Ginny, Ron, Charlie and Bill in the room; the latter pair seemed visibly upset by what their brother had become. Soon the four of them found themselves talking about Fred and George, how this whole _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_ business had troubled Mum; and finally decided that to better understand that situation there was nothing left for them but to listen to the conversation that was taking place below.

"Charlie" Ginny called amusedly, calling a moment from her memory: "did you really prefer a dragon to a Brazilian girl?"

Charlie did not answer and looked at his brother—

"Bill" he shouted, "next time I bring a dragon here, I'll have your tongue personally burned, since you like them so much. Now come on down... And you two ... don't take that seriously."

Struggling to stay serious, he opened the door and went downstairs, leaving the other three to giggle.

-,-,-,-,-,-

"They decided in a tacit agreement to pretend that the fight had never happened," Ginny was explaining to Hermione, who had recently just arrived at the Burrow. It's been a week, and the big day had arrived: the Quidditch World Cup was now just around the corner. The two girls sat in Ginny's room and chatted as they waited for Harry's arrival. "Basically, mum couldn't take it so well but she will recover: she know that they really are serious and that a joke shop is better than a life as a beggar."

Hermione smiled with difficulty, but seemed rather serious.

"It's crazy," she declared, still stunned.

"We're talking about Fred and George Weasley, Hermione," Ginny replied with a smile. "Anyway, I'm sure Mum won't give up making life impossible by confiscating all their creation, she's just finding the right moment and then ... _Accio_! And goodbye Fake Wands and Ton-Tongue Toffees!"

Fred and George had perfected their products more and more and Ginny had even tried one of the toffees, with the result of her tongue becoming suitable as a jumping rope for something like fifty people. They had also talked about Skiving Snackbox and told her that they could not let her try those products because they were still too dangerous: Ginny gave a little bite to a Fainting Fancies and slept for a whole day, which caused the twins to worry a lot, hiding her in their room the whole time.

Ginny had told it to Hermione, as she did to her brothers.

"Ron wanted me to try that toy ... _Fanged Frisbee_ , you know?" Hermione said smiling, reminding her of a few hours before the departure of Arthur, Ron, Fred and George to Harry's uncle's house. Ginny knew about it: Ron wanted Hermione to feel at ease, but as soon as he told her about the Weasley Wheezes, she had thrown a panicked spell and dropped the Frisbee, with the result that she no longer enjoyed herself.

"It wasn't dangerous, you should have tried it."

Hermione started to reply when an exclamation from the kitchen interrupted her—

"We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!"

"Oh-ho," said Ginny, suddenly animated by a bad feeling, "now there's trouble, I can feel it ..."

The girl jumped up from her bed, followed by Hermione, who ran immediately to the door. If that was Fred's voice, and it was _certainly_ Fred's voice, then it wouldn't be only him in the kitchen—George, Ron, Arthur, and the person Ginny had been waiting for a long time: Harry Potter. The two girls, frantically putting on shoes, went downstairs and rushed into the Burrow's kitchen, where a tense silence held in the air.

Ginny was immediately looking for Harry's eyes and found them: green, sparkling, beautiful and directed at hers. Harry Potter's lips curved into a big smile in response to the cheerful faces of the two girls. Ginny felt herself blushing at only the eye contact and the smile; he probably noticed and promptly looked at Molly.

"Tell me what, Arthur?" she asked, in a _very_ dangerous tone.

"It's nothing, Molly," her husband muttered uneasily. "Fred and George just... but I've had words with them ..."

"What have they done this time? If it's got anything to do with the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes…"

Ginny caught Hermione's eyes and shot her a look which she immediately caught: she proposed to see Ron's room and the trio, in addition to Ginny, went upstairs, just in time to escape another useless argument about the twins' ambition. Soon, they were explaining everything about the Wheezes to a rather surprised Harry; but thinking back, well, who really saw Fred and George working at the Ministry?

"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" Hermione asked, when they were in Ron's room. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"

"Yes, thanks a lot, they saved my life, those cakes,"

"And have you heard from-" Ron began, but a sharp look of reproach from Hermione immediately silenced him. Ginny knew that the three of them probably were to start talking about things between each other, and she was to remain excluded; but Ginny couldn't help but be curious and began to look from Ron to Harry, trying to capture something more than that futile little phrase.

Obviously, nothing.

Things slipping out from his brother was normal and it was a relief when Hermione said, "I think they've stopped fighting… Shall we go downstairs and help your mum with dinner?"

That, was a good idea!

-,-,-,-,-,-

"Look at the time! You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you: you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup!"

Molly's voice came to Ginny's ears as late: she was really falling from sleep and was grateful to her mother for reading her thought. A great empathic connection between her and her mother. Ginny wished there was one with Harry too, so she could at least know what was going on in that head under the messy locks.

"Come on, Gin, to bed!" Bill exclaimed, girdling her waist.

"I can't wait ..." she mumbled, marching home. Bill chuckled. "You'll have to teach me how to duel like you do one day, I want to be good in duels too, just like you and Charlie"

"Come on, Charlie is a wimp!" Bill replied, raising his voice to get his brother approaching them.

" _Charlie is a wimp in what?_ " he said, as expected. "Still with that girls' business, Bill?"

Ginny choked a giggle. "A dragon like a girl is ideal, let's not joke."

Harry, who was passing by with Ron and Hermione, stared towards the girl and laughed with Ron, who had probably already told him that his brother preferred a dragon rather than a girl. Hermione smiled as Ginny called to her to come into her room, because they would sleep together. Once they said their goodnights to the boys, the two put on their pajamas and went straight to bed.

Neither had the energy to talk, so, mumbling a "goodnight", both fell asleep. It seemed only moments had passed since the girl closed her eyes when she heard the bright voice of her mother waking her up ...

"Ginny, wake up! Ginny, Hermione ... wake up!"

The red head grunted and opened her eyes a few millimeters: it was still dark. What time was it? Why did mum wake her up so early? It was barely dawn when Mrs. Weasley opened the girls' bedroom window. She had slept so little and for a moment she had the idea to send the Quidditch World Cup to hell for her to sleep blissfully and relaxed in her bed and ... the _Quidditch World Cup_!

Ginny opened her eyes suddenly.

"Yeah ... ah, you're awake!" exclaimed Molly, who was adjusting the curtains. "Hermione, dear, are you awake too?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," she answered in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Fantastic, the Quidditch World Cup awaits you!"

Ginny told himself that she could bear this, even waking up before dawn.

-,-,-,-,-,-

All the Weasleys, including Harry and Hermione, were walking along the rocky slope, to the top of Stoatshead Hill to take the Portkey and get to where they would be staying for the Quidditch World Cup. Ginny really thought she could not walk anymore- because they had walked, well, a lot- the sun was already high in the clear sky ... but really, how long did that walk have to go on?

"I was thinking ... about just going down to the valley ... rolling ..." Hermione gasped, at the tail of the group and seemed close to collapsing on the spot. Ginny was not used to walking so much either, but their family walks were usually very long, so she was somewhat at an advantage compared to Hermione.

"Muggles don't take outings?"

"Yes, we do," Hermione replied, resolutely, "but we usually don't walk very much at dawn, we use transportations like cars- not flying ones," she added at a fleeting glance of the redhead, who smiled.

They all arrived at the top of the hill (Hermione, without any doubt, was last) and Arthur said: "We've made good time… we still have ten minutes! Now we just need the Portkey ... It won't be big… come on…"

"Oh no, now we have to _look_ for the Portkey," Ron huffed in annoyance.

"How long can we ...?" Hermione was asking, but she couldn't finish her question before a male voice, different from that of any of the Weasleys, exclaimed: "Over here, Arthur, we've got it!"

"Oh, thank Merlin!" Ginny said, grateful to the stranger. She had always hated looking around for this, especially when you grew up with Fred and George, always joking, telling you that the Object-Portkey was not a real Portkey and would sent you away from the world, alone. The redhead remembered the incident with a shiver, then smiled nostalgically.

"Amos!"

"Who is it?" Hermione whispered to Ginny, who was about to answer when her father anticipated it.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," he said, finishing to shake hands with a red-faced man with a treacherous brown beard, who had in his hands an old dirty boot: the Portkey. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and I think you know his son Cedric."

Ginny had not nearly followed her father's brief presentation of Amos Diggory, because she was completely busy contemplating his son. Cedric was the boy she had heard so much about in the Hogwarts corridors and, almost always, from Vicky Probisher. She had seen him a few times and never as closely as now. Now she could have said that what Vicky said about the boy was true.

About seventeen years old, beautiful in his sportswear, hazel eyes and dark blond hair, Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Cedric Diggory presented himself to the eyes of the girls as a star.

"Hi," he said, glancing around, with a look that finally settled on Ginny.

"Hi," everyone replied, except for Fred and George, who still harbored an annoyance at Cedric from the Quidditch defeat of the year before. Ron also did not seem particularly enthusiastic about saying hello, perhaps because Hermione seemed very impressed by the boy, almost as much as Ginny was.

 _Vicky is not stupid_ ... she found herself thinking for the umpteenth time.

Hermione took her aside. "Did you know him already? Cedric, I mean," she said, her voice very low.

"I did hear about it, I saw him a couple of times in the corridors..." Ginny answered, lowering her voice in turn.

"What do you think? I see you're quite ... _taken_ "

Ginny laughed. "Never as much as you!" she said and Hermione opened her mouth in indignation. "No, seriously, Cedric is not my type, and I think he likes a friend of mine too, I'm sure he would kill me if he knew about a hypothetical crush from here."

"I'm not _taken_ by him!" Hermione hissed, still ruminating on the first sentence of the redhead. "That is ... yes, well, no one would say that he's not handsome, and he's also a Prefect…"

"Yes, but I only see you with my brother," Ginny completed, with hilarity.

Hermione blushed. "And I'll see _you_ with Harry!" she replied, her voice still low.

"I see myself too ..." the redhead whispered dreamily. Realizing her spontaneous words, she shot a look at a gloating Hermione and laughed. She tried to justify herself, "no but,… it's just a girlish dream, that's all."

"Look, as for me I'm really too busy to understand things about girls and-"

"Could you two stop gossiping?" Ron approached the two girls, who were still away from everyone else, both all red in the face—especially Hermione. The conversation between Arthur, Harry, Amos and Cedric was coming to an end with a "we'd better get ready" by Arthur.

"We are not gossiping!" Ginny tried, arching towards the Portkey, followed by the others.

"Suuuure! Since the moment they saw that … _Diggory_ ," he said the last word in a disgusting high pitched female voice. Harry, who had approached them, chuckled swiftly, making Ginny smile too.

They all circled around the worn boot found by Amos Diggory, and waitied for the Portkey to start working. Ginny was too used to travelling with the Portkeys to realize how ridiculous they must be looking, and did not fail to notice the embarrassment written on Harry and Hermione's faces. The latter looked at Ginny questioningly as the portkey went into operation and in less than no time they found themselves in another part of the country, thrown all over the ground by the strength of the boot. Hermione and Harry coughed heavily.

"Seven past five from Stoashead Hill," declared a voice.

* * *

 _ **Isn't that just our favorite family summer? So, did you enjoy this chapter? Review and tell us!**_

 _ **~Helena H. (editor)**_

 _ **translator and owner of the account: Ermory (Don't y'all miss her?)**_

 **Next: Quidditch World Cup (TBGA for to be greatly anticipated)**


	23. Quidditch World Cup

**_New chapter. I know it's Monday I know I'm late and ah well forgive me (Helena here again). At least the chapter is here. It's the Quidditch World Cup! But I'm afraid the original writer pulled a GoF movie on us and skipped the actual game (sigh); however, we get to see some Weasley family time, World Cup aftermath and all that, small moment of hinny brewing, and some more teenage-girl gossiping lol._**

 ** _Anyway, as always, enjoy._**

 ** _Disclaimer: we don't own any of this. The characters and plot belong to JK Rowling and the story was originally written in Italian by EmPotter._**

 ** _The original story can be found of EFPfanfic, under the name 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'_**

* * *

 **The Quidditch World Cup**

Ginny raised her head, noticing that rather than falling on top of Hermione, she was on the ground against Cedric Diggory, who had extended a hand to help her up. Gratefully ignoring Ron's disdainful looks and Hermione's smiles, she grabbed his hands and sat up. Once Cedric spotted his father, they had left to their final destination, while the Weasleys along with Harry and Hermione set off for their camp.

"So," said Arthur as they reached the two tents waiting to be set up, "no magic, and I mean it."

"No way!" Ginny said sarcastically, puffing already at the amount of useless rules that awaited them. There were wizards everywhere, even when Mr. Roberts, the Muggle owner of the campsite, was a mere few feet away from them ... and what did their father do? Nothing less than being a victim of his job.

No magic is simply impossible!

"Hey, Harry ... where do you reckon we should start?" Arthur then asked, clearly disoriented.

"Start by taking out our wands, Dad," George suggested, and everyone laughed, except his father. Arthur snorted and ordered the others to lend a hand- without making squalid jokes and without making their job even more difficult.

And so it was: they all worked hard to assemble those tents and once the shabby products stood finished before them (thank Merlin, finally!), they stepped in one by one. According to Hermione, the tents were entirely different from the Muggle ones, and she found herself excitedly gasping all the time, muttering that she would never have thought the inside were so big from what she sees on the outside. Harry was in a similar state, who stood open-jawed for quite some moments, his eyes allowing nothing but taking in the full surrounding of the magic tent.

When Ron, Harry, and Hermione went out to gather water with the pots and kettles, Ginny dragged herself to visit Fred and George in their tent.

"I can't wait for the game, I'm all excited!" Ginny declared, with a big smile on her face.

"We will be betting on that game, you know?" Fred said, raising an eyebrow in a challenge. Ginny turned to look at him, and George standing next to him, who was nodding very firmly, and at the same time, rather mysteriously.

"You're betting?"

"All our savings," George said, his look bordering madness. When their sister made a scandalized expression, thinking above all what their mother would say once she knew her sons had given all their savings for a bet on a game, he continued: "Listen little sis, Bulgaria—Victor Krum—he's always one up on his tricks. But you know, his tactics wouldn't beat Ireland because it's too strong—"

"Yes, of course, but Krum always manages to win against the opposing Seekers!" the girl objected.

"Which brings us back to our bet."

Ginny was still disconcerted, then Fred said, "Knowing this, who would _you_ bet on?"

"Well it's obvious I'll bet for Ireland winning but… but…" with a whisper, the girl stopped.

"But Victor Krum will catch the Snitch!" Fred and George concluded in chorus with a big smile.

"Oh, that's brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed, now seriously drawn in. In fact, now that she thought about it, she was really not all that impressed: the twins were the family's kneazles, night owls. They always managed to think of everything and had an incredible imagination. As a child she had always envied them, but this feeling of hers had over time transformed into pure adoration and respect for her beloved brothers. She wouldn't dream of becoming like them now. She was who she was and that's enough.

She continued happily chatting with the twins about the upcoming game, how Victor Krum would surely take the snitch, devising a brilliant diversionary tactic against Aidan Lynch, the Ireland Seeker. They went on and on imagining about the wonderful Quidditch World Cup, until a very familiar ringing voice distracted Ginny from her pre-game conjectures-

"HEY, GINNY!" Victoria Probisher shrieked, leaping in front of her friend.

"VICKY!"

The two girls ran forward into a hug; when they broke away, Ginny noticed that her friend was much taller than she remembered. Her blonde hair, which a few months ago had been long and hanging against her back, seemed to have been freshly cut to shoulder length; the green eyes of her showed pure joy.

"How long have you been here? We are in the tent next door!" declared the redhead, with a big smile.

"I thought so!" exclaimed Vicky, who already seemed to know everything about everyone there on the campsite. "I saw your brother, Harry Potter and their friend walk past our tent loaded with pots and kettles, and I thought you must be next door—I was just about to take a walk; you know, I was hoping to see Ritchie too, but then I just saw—never mind—how nice to see you again!"

Ginny beamed at her, then introduced her to Fred and George. She, of course, said she knew them already because of how famous they were at Hogwarts, and how the twins went about their jokes that couldn't be easily forgotten; they told Vicky she was very nice too. Once they had moved away from the girl, the three Weasleys returned to their tent for food. Arthur sat and told Harry and Hermione about all the members of the Ministry coming in and out of the campground but the Weasley children already knew enough about the Ministry to be interested in paying any attention.

At sunset, the emotions around the grounds became almost palpable: the street salesmen were apparating with carts full of bright rosettes that screamed the names of the players, pointy hats, flags, puppets from players' collections and many other things that Ginny had never seen in her life and he could not wait to buy-

"Come on, Gin, we have to get something!" Bill said cheerfully, taking her by the hand and dragging her to a cart loaded with souvenir. Ginny immediately plunged her face into the little things from the seller. "Oh, wait ... Charlie, lend me a few galleons, I swear I'll pay you back!"

"Piece-of-rubbish-of-a-dragon!" Charlie scanned around, marching up to the trolley next to Ginny and Bill, who was holding out his hand. "Here, I want every knut back!" he added, threateningly, but he was so excited by the game that the threat seemed like a joke.

With Charlie's money, the three of them bought identical rosettes that screamed the names of the players. They immediately put them on. Upon returning to the tent, they saw that Arthur had a giant Ireland flag, waving itself every five seconds; Ron was sporting a pointy hat, along with a shamrock, a small figure of Krum and an Omniocular; Harry and Hermione carried the same things, though without the doll of Krum. The only ones who did not have anything were the twins, who had really bet all their savings, sending Arthur and Percy out of their minds.

"Dad, but-" Ginny paused, as a deep, resonant gong rumbled across the camp.

"It's time!" exclaimed Arthur, as excited as the children while illuminated under the green and red lights. "Come on, let's go!"

-;-;-;-;-

Ginny came out of the field almost hopping and with a smile on her face, discussing with her brothers the game they had just witnessed. The World Cup match had been really great, special. As usual, the twins were damn right: Ireland had won but Krum had taken the Snitch. That match would certainly have been etched in her mind like ink on parchment and Krum ... what wouldn't she give to fly like him!

"I'm telling you that Levski could play better!"

"And Volkov?"

"Heck, the quaffle kept passing them without them noticing!"

"But can we talk about Lynch? He couldn't do anything after that first crash!" Ginny observed, still charged.

"Krum was good and clever though ..."

"No blames, Charlie. Krum won us money," Fred boasted, amid general euphoria.

When everyone returned to the tent they found themselves still arguing over the game while they sipped hot cocca. Charlie seemed furious of the seeker victory of Bulgaria and he did nothing but scream at Fred and George, who continuously shot jokes stupid to blow his nerves, waving around their money. At first, Ginny briskly joined the discussion but later the sleep began to fall on her. At one point she could no longer even tell who was talking and who was quiet ... couldn't understand anything until ...

"HOLY MERLIN!"

Ginny awoke with a start and realized that Bill was holding her arm, so as not to drop her, and that her beloved hot chocolate was all over the floor: she had fallen asleep, knocking over everything. Taking the cue, Arthur beckoned everyone to go to bed with promises of discussing the game the next morning. Everyone obeyed; Ginny and Hermione entered the tent next door, noting that the joyous songs around the campsite still had to end.

"Goodnight," Ginny muttered, still embarrassed by the spectacle she had given before and pulling the sheet over her head. Hermione returned a goodnight and they both fell asleep immediately. It seemed to Ginny that she had just fallen asleep when she heard her father's agitated voice...

"Ginny… Hermione ... wake up! Get up right away!"

"M-Mr. Weasley?"

"Hermione, you have to get up!" Arthur cried, almost terrified, as he pulled the covers from his daughter's bed. Ginny moaned slightly and opened her eyes a little, noticing the feverish look on her father. Perhaps the game had gone to his head, and that was not a good reason to wake up two sleepy girls. "Grab your jackets and get out immediately! Something…strange going on."

"Mmmh ... the Irish always have their own way to celebrate ..." Ginny mumbled, closing her eyes again.

"GINNY!"

She snapped her eyes open as her head knocked against the tent canvas. Only then did she realize that something was really wrong: the noises in the campsite had changed, there were no more happy songs, but screams of fright, and the sound of running footsteps echoed terribly. Ginny and Hermione quickly slipped out of bed and, with their jackets on, came outside. People fled left and right from something moving in the field: hooded men. The hooded men were destroying tents, setting them on fire, making Muggles float and turn above their heads. Ginny was horrified. Mr. Roberts' little son was turned around like a spinning top, while he screamed and prayed for the men to stop.

She felt almost like crying.

"Get away, go away from the camps!" Arthur shouted, drawing his wand. Bill, Charlie and Percy imitated him and threw themselves into the crowd to help the Ministry men hold the masked men under control. They seemed vaguely familiar to Ginny. Perhaps she had seen the same somewhere… perhaps in the papers… but the girl could not find a connection.

"Come on," said Fred, taking Ginny's hand and dragging her towards the woods, with the others at their heels. George immediately reached his twin and grabbed his sister's other hand. They ran and ran for a long time, no one knew for how long or for where the boys ran, and the only sound she could hear, as they were further and further away from the tents, was the echo of their steps and the rustle of their breaths.

Ginny couldn't take it anymore: she wanted to go back to the tent.

"Stop!" shouted George, his voice breathless. The two obeyed immediately, convinced that George had seen something in the trees or whatever else. "Where are the others? They were behind us!"

Ginny turned and realised that Ron, Harry, and Hermione had disappeared. "Oh good heaven..." she murmured.

"They might have just gone off somewhere, don't worry, they do it all the time, remember!" Fred assured, but he was quite worried too. "Wands in hands though, I don't trust this forest to give us anything good."

Fred gripped his wand with force, and so did George, pointing to the surrounding woods. Ginny fumbled to get hers, but once she found it, she felt something move around and quickly looked up while pointing her wand up towards the dark sky. Her wand wasn't even fully lifted when something vast, green and shiny appeared in that night sky.

"But what did you-" Fred jumped, grabbing his sister's free hand.

Ginny was also frightened: a huge emerald skull, with a snake crawling out of its mouth, towered over them frighteningly. At the appearance of that skull shouts and cries exploded, and the sound of running steps intensified.

"What did you do?" asked Fred.

"I didn't do anything!" Ginny screamed, terrified.

"The Dark Mark ..." George whispered, "we have to get out of here, let's go back to the tent!"

And so it was...

-;-;-;-;-

The next day, the Weasleys hurried home. After finally arriving safely, Molly Weasley hugged all of them tightly, crushing ribs, sobbing, and repeatedly kissed the twins.

In the following days, no one gave peace: they wanted to know what happened at the World Cup. Why did the Death Eaters, the followers of Voldemort, come out to the campsite to create chaos? Why did someone throw the Dark Mark into the sky? What the hell was really happening? Arthur and Percy were now only seen during dinner, both preoccupied at the Ministry, which was in trouble.

As the days wore on, the weather began to make nasty jokes and the day of departure for Hogwarts was far too bleak: heavy rain tapped against the windows of the Burrow, while Ginny packed her trunk, ready for departure. If she thought about the fact that she would finally see his friends again, the melancholy that rained upon them would go away.

"Now we just need my robes to self-inflate in the Express, and I'll look like my mum." said Ginny, buttoning the sweatshirt up to her throat. Hermione chuckled swiftly, then Ginny went on talking, "You know, she's very nervous ... Mum, I mean, she told me that Dad haven't worked such long hours since You-Know-Who was in power, and those Death Eaters at the Cup… well, what can it mean? I'm worried."

Hermione seemed so troubled by that statement that the redhead regretted having spoken. "You're not the only one, I'm worried too, and not just because I've read millions of books on the first War and ..." Ginny nodded as if to say she understood. Hermione's parents were Muggles, and Ginny knew what the girl was forced to read about. "I'm worried about Harry." Hermione concluded, lacing her shoes and carefully avoided Ginny's eyes.

"Harry?"

"Yeah ... if _He_ comes back to power, Harry would be the first person he wants to take out." Hermione's voice was icy, and her eyes burned bright. She hurriedly lowered her head, continuing the excuse of fixing laces of her shoes.

"But ... those are just… guesses, Hermione! It's not said that He really would return!" Ginny tried to encourage her, without believing her own words. She silently cursed herself for starting this conversation.

Hermione nodded but Ginny could have sworn that her friend had turned just in time to wipe away a tear. After a tense silence, they decided to change the subject and began to insult the journalist Rita Skeeter for the idiocies she had spread in the Daily Prophet, idiocies that had sent the Ministry into more chaos.

"This year we will go to King's Cross with Muggle taxis," Molly informed them, while everyone was seated at the table with breakfast. "We tried to borrow cars from the Ministry but couldn't make it, I'm afraid."

"Better than nothing," George said, nibbling on his toast.

"No worries mum," added Fred, pouting regardless. It's been days for which the twins refrained from angering their mother, preventing her from re-discussing the history of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and they did not want another meaningless quarrel like what happened before the World Cup.

"Yeah, Mom, we'll manage!" Ginny echoed, reaching for the juice jug.

Her hand wrapped unexpectedly around Harry's, who had the same idea as the girl. Both hands sprang back, Harry red in the face but never as much as Ginny, who begged Merlin and all the saints not to become coloured like her hair. She returned to take the jug only when Harry had finished, and kept her eyes down the whole time, while Hermione, Bill and the twins stared at the two of them sideways.

Is everyone just aware of everything that goes on in this house?

At half past ten, they drove to the station in the promised Muggle taxis, excited to be in a Muggle car. What wouldn't Arthur had given to be here with them and endlessly pester the driver! However, the trip was quite boring, also because the taxi driver who had taken Ginny smoked like a chimney and didn't speak a word unless forced to: Molly had snapped her mouth close at the man's glare.

Finally arriving at the King's Cross station, they slipped pass the barrier and happily approached the Hogwarts Express, the scarlet train, puffing smoke and waiting for them.

Ginny hugged all her loved ones, pausing to kiss Bill of the cheek, then quickly got on the train, which was just about to leave. When not a shadow of her family members remained, the twins immediately sneaked away; Ron, Harry and Hermione went and got a compartment to themselves. As always, they probably didn't want all the Weasleys around to talk about whatever they do; Ginny, though she loved all three of them, was happy to leave rather than stay with them and feel left out.

She walked briskly through the train and met Neville, Seamus and Dean in one of the middle compartment. They looked at Ginny as if they had never really seen herinto the central compartment greeted Neville, Seamus and Dean, who looked at Ginny as if he had never really seen her. Rather flattered, she walked to the tail of the train, where she was sure she would find her friends… and there they were. They've all been waiting for her and as soon as she's seen they screamed with joy.

"Finally here! You're always late!" Colin shrieked in his particularly high voice, and ran to hug her.

"Let her breathe!" Demelza protested, amused.

"Demelza is right, Colin," Ritchie replied.

"Ha, she's never not right for you!" Vicky chirped, starting to laugh, while Ginny hugged Demelza. "However, even though Testa Rossa and I have seen each other at the Quidditch World Cup a few weeks ago, shove over, I want to hug her."

Christopher made a rasp noise. "Kill her, smother her, choke her! Whatever you need."

"Get away, you! Why all so emotional?" William did, pretending to throw up.

"Well said!"

"Chris, was 'kill her' a rough way of telling me that you love me?" Ginny asked, "Because if that's so ... you're kind, I really appreciate it!"

They all giggled; after finally having settled down, Ginny sat quietly on her seat, resting her legs on Ritchie's lap. Only then did she notice that in their compartment sat a boy who looks remarkably like Colin. Something told her that the 11-year-old was...

"Dennis," Colin explained cordially.

"This one is already one of the gang," added Christopher, winking at him.

"Nice to meet you, Colin told me so much about you," cried the little Dennis Creevey and Ginny could not help but smile and tightly hold the tiny hand of her friend's little brother.

"Really?"

"Pinky promise!"

"Oh uh ... all right, the pleasure is mine" replied the girl, always smiling.

There was a small silence, then William said: "I read the newspapers ... I almost got a heart attack"

"I was so scared!" exclaimed Demelza, who had in her lap Practical Guide for Transfiguration: third volume. "But I think everyone was, in a sense it was better that I was at home, only having to look at the photos in the Prophet rather than seeing them myself."

"I had planned a good day but that happiness turned into horror," admitted Ritchie melancholy, then observing the perplexed expression of Colin, added: "Er ... I think we have to explain this to Colin ..."

"Go ahead, I'm not understanding even a bit of this moldy Chocolate Frog!" Colin snorted. Ritchie, William and Christopher turned to him, starting to explain everything, starting from the First Wizarding War, to Ritchie's description of the events at the Cup.

"Anyway, I have good news!" Vicky said, and her green eyes shone with delight.

"Yeah, you were just telling me! Spit it out!"

"We're all ears" assured the redhead.

"Okay, so ... I have a boyfriend!" Vicky shouted, purposely turning away from the boys. Ginny and Demelza both opened their mouths wide and started to say something when Vicky continued: "It was before the World Cup, you know, I went on vacation and my parents met with the Goldsteins here, and Anthony and I got together when we were there."

"Anthony? Anthony Goldstein? Of Ravenclaw?" Demelza asked.

Ginny had no idea who he was.

"Correct." nodded the blonde with a smile. The boys had turned away in apparent disgust from another side.

"But didn't you like Cedric Diggory?" asked Ginny perplexed, raising an eyebrow. "Who, moreover, came to the Quidditch World Cup with us, since my father and his father work together."

"Well, in fact, I liked Cedric but he's not my type. My guy is Anthony, definitely!"

"You said that with Cedric too," Ginny reminded her, and Demelza chuckled.

"That didn't mean anything!" Vicky retorted energetically, "I can't say that Cedric Diggory hates me, but he lies Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, that pretty and popular girl, you know, you've definitely seen her around, so many boys liked her…"

Cho Chang ... Ravenclaw seeker ... very pretty popular girl ...

"YOU MEAN THEY'RE TOGETHER?" Ginny asked aggressively, the memory of the previous year's Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw knocking into her mind. Harry definitely seemed taken away by the pretty Ravenclaw Seeker, so much that he had let the Snitch slip past him over and over again, and if Cedric and Cho Chang were together ... Harry would give up hope for the girl and he could be open his eyes on other people ...

Ginny, particularly.

"Oh, um ... who?"

"Who else, Vic? Cedric and this Cho!"

"I don't know, but I do know for sure that they like each other."

"And how do you know that?" asked Demelza curiously.

"I have my sources." was the mysterious answer of Vicky, who, catching Ginny's murderous look, added: "There's a Ravenclaw, Annie Gray, who saw them kissing near the Ravenclaw Tower"

"kissing..." Ginny repeated, with a little smile.

"Yeah, with your permission, I'll go see Anthony ... I come back eh!"

And with this said Vicky disappeared, almost hopping. Ginny and Demelza watched her go away, her blond hair dancing on her shoulders, happy that she had finally found, as she always said, her prince charming. The two glanced at each other and exchanged the latest news, while the boys ended their horrible conversation.

"So, Colin?"

"I think I understood everything ..." he assured, swallowing. "But what fuck was this Voldemort doing!"

They all winced (Ritchie held her breath, turning purple) at the name, then Ginny said, "Okay, who's the one that told him You-Know-Who's name? Which of you proud Gryffindor?"

"I ... uh…" William said, shivering a little.

Ginny smiled at him. "Oh Will, I'll marry you!"

He blushed visibly, and stammered something incomprehensible.

* * *

 _ **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Again, sorry, sorry, sorry that I'm late (I'm late, not we're late. Wasn't Ermory's fault) to this update. It's not so easy keeping the communication up with Ermory since we're both on holiday and her internet connection side of things aren't that stable. We'll try to keep up and get your uploads every Sunday.**_

 _ **Reviews? We'd appreciate it!**_

 _ **~Helena H. (editor)**_

 _ **Ermory: translator and owner of this account**_

 _ **P.S. I googled Anthony and Vicky and didn't find anything of them getting married. Spoiler? No spoiler? I'm only editor so really I'm reading this fic with you guys and... yeah. I'm intrigued.**_

 _ **P.P.S. So Colin didn't know anything. That means he kinda went through two years of badgering Harry without really knowing... anything.**_

 **Next: The Triwizard Tournament**


	24. The Triwizard Tournament

_**We're finally back. There wasn't an update last week so there will be two today.**_

 _ **Note from Ermo** **ry:** **Guys Ermroy here, I am so sorry , this time we are late because of me. I accidentaly translated the chapter after this one lol. Sorry guys, but hey! You at least know hat the next chapter will be on time.**_

 _ **Well as usual I'm also a factor for the tardiness. I ended up not editing till yesterday? School's started for me, and the schedules are already hectic. The updates might be a bit random from now on, sigh. We'll try our best though.**_

 _ **Also, the usual, we don't own any of this, JK Rowling owns characters and plot, while the story was originally written in Italian by EmPotter, it's on EFPfanfic, called 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'**_

 ** _Enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

 **The Triwizard Tournament**

Having arrived at Hogwarts in the magical carriages, Ginny and her friends hurried into the castle, before Peeves could come up with another plan to drop on them even more water balloons, which had already victimized Ron as well as some girls in fifth and second year. Christopher was shoving around the hardest to get inside and out of the target area, not wanting to get soaked any more than already.

"Can't everyone hurry up and move along? I'm starving!" groaned Ginny, staring daggers at the empty gold plates, after she and her friends have all settled down at the Gryffindor table.

After a few more moments of waiting, the Sorting Hat finally broke into song, at the applause of all the students in the hall. Colin, however, seemed to be appreciating the moment not as much as seeing his little brother; both of them were hopping here and there excitedly.

"Creevey, Dennis!" McGonagall suddenly shouted.

"Here we go!" Colin exulted as Dennis stumbled to the stool, wrapped in Hagrid's big moleskin coat. "Brothers and sisters would be sorted into the same house, right?" he added, remembering only then that Dennis could be sorted into a house other than his own.

"No, not necessarily" was Demelza's answer.

Colin's inner turmoil lasted only a little while, for no sooner had the Hat touched Dennis, the latter was declared to be among the Gryffindors. He all but ran to his elder brother, who was equally joyous to have him in the same house. It seemed in no time at all, the sorting had ended and all the golden dishes were filled with all the delicious dishes, Ginny couldn't wait to start her planned attack on the food—especially the roast chicken and chocolate desserts… as Colin and Dennis were still wrapped in a frenzied conversation about Harry Potter, who was sitting not far from them.

"This is delicious!" the redhead commented with a full mouth, and Demelza nodded vigorously.

"Aren't we lucky!" Vicky added, sipping her pumpkin juice. "I heard from Nick that Peeves got into trouble in the kitchen and scared the house elves, and we almost couldn't had our dinner! He just can't ever stay put."

After all the students had been stuffing themselves, Dumbledore stood up, spread his arms cheerfully and began his usual start-of-term announcements cheerfully. He talked about objects banned by Mr. Filch, the old caretaker who clearly enjoyed seeing students suffer; he talked about the list of those forbidden items, which were extended to include some deliveries sold by Fred and George before the school had ended in June. Then he continued-

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year ..."

Needless to say, pandemonium broke out.

"What do you mean?!" Ginny exclaimed, opening her mouth wide, protesting among the hall of students. Right when she finally was confident to try for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, something like this had to happen?

"But that's not right!" Vicky snapped, looking at the old Headmaster grimly.

"What nonsense?" Ritchie protested.

Dumbledore resumed: "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year, Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament."

"YEAH RIGHT"

"KEEP JOKING!" Fred and George exclaimed loudly into a bubble of laughter around them.

Ginny could not believe her ears: the Triwizard Tournament here at Hogwarts! It was like a dream, a dream that came true. Her parents had talked so much about the famous tournament, and they had always spoken about it with great joy, even though it had been discontinued due to the high death toll. But of course, as Dumbledore seemed confident to assure, there would be more experienced teachers to handle the situation this year; the excitement in the Great Hall grew, as the headmaster explained the tournament affair to those who had never heard of it.

"It sounds fantastic!" exclaimed Colin, when the Headmaster finished his brief explanation. He was as excited as the other students, perhaps even more so because he was a Muggle's son. "We have to try and get into this competition, all of us could become champions of Hogwarts, do not we? Oh, I can't wait to know more about this Triwizard Tournament, so we could all join together and ... "

"What are you talking about?" Demelza interrupted Colin's great monologue worriedly. "Didn't you hear Dumbledore? _The Triwizard Tournament was discontinued due to the high death toll_ , and anyone would think properly about that before trying to enroll in this death trap!"

But Demelza's anxiety was only shared by a few people there in the Great Hall, which happened to include Ritchie and Vicky.

"Yes, all very fascinating ... but the age limit is seventeen and it seems to me you're all only thirteen"

"Oh!" Colin said, only now remembering those specific words of Dumbledore.

"The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang delegations will arrive in October and stay with us for the greater part of the year," the Headmaster continued. "I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are here with us, and will give your whole hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, so bedtime! Chop chop!"

Ginny and her friends got up from their table and crossed the Great Hall, heading for their common room and imagining how the Triwizard Tournament will play out, telling each other their own theories of the tasks and tests to be passed by the champions.

"Ahh, how I would love to participate!" Ginny sighed, her head in the clouds.

"High death toll, high death toll..." Demilza mutter-chanted, trotting alongside her friend.

"I'd like to participate too, show everyone what you're made of, a good opportunity, right?" William said, brushing back a black curl from over his eye and puffing a little.

"I don't see myself overcoming difficult physical trials..." Vicky said, thoughtfully enough.

"Yes, exactly," agreed Demelza, who was still thinking about the high death toll.

"Um, it's hell itself that's making you talk!" he accused and Christopher and Ritchie laughed. "Eh, Dem?"

"HEY!" she protested, immediately infuriated.

"Ginny, one thing came to my mind ..." Vicky murmured, flirty toned, and Ginny shivered feeling a strange air, perhaps an air of gossip.

While Demelza and Christopher continued their friendly fight, in front of a bewildered Ritchie trying every way to end the bantering quarrel, Vicky leaned towards Ginny with a mischievous look.

"Look at how the boys stare at you ... you're making a lot of progress to what I see, you know?"

William joined them in that conversation, turning to look at Vicky with wide eyes. "What did you say?"

"Nothing but the truth... A friend of my boyfriend has already been having his eyes on you, in addition to the fact that other guys, I heard around, they find you very pretty, and ... look over there, quick!" Ginny turned, curious and skeptical, to where her friend pointed, about ten yards from where they were walking. "See, Dean Thomas seems fascinated looking at you, don't you think?"

"No!" it was William who answered, rather irritated, "it does _not_ sound right!"

"He's right, and anyway, who is this phantom friend of your boyfriend who supposedly have turned his eyes on me?"

"Oh I can't tell you everything! I'm sorry, I really cannot."

"Okay so... you're lying," the redhead simply concluded, giggling.

"I swear I'm not!" her friend exclaimed, putting her hand on her heart.

Ginny stared at her with a mixture of perplexity and amusement, while William had his arms crossed and looked away, slipping a hand through those wonderful curly hair: a sure sign that he was nervous.

"Anyway," Vicky went to the portrait of the Fat Lady, "Don't you think you should forget Harry Potter for a while and try watching other guys? Anthony's friend is not really bad and Dean Thomas is very nice, even though he isn't really with a Ravenclaw's type: yes, he's dating but still looks at you like that… I can't understand… poor Lisa Turpin!"

Having heard everything, Christopher intertwined his hands, forming cattle horns. Ritchie and Demelza burst out laughing, and William woke up from his deep nervousness and began to tear up with laughter, as he always did when he chuckled.

"Wait ... do you still like Harry Potter?" Ritchie asked, causing Ginny to jump.

"What's got into your brain to say it here?" she said hotly, glaring at Ritchie. "Listen, Harry is a thing ... that is ... it's complicated to explain, I don't really expect you to understand," she added, cutting short on that subject.

"Password?" asked the Fat Lady, in the silence that followed Ginny's words.

" _Balderdash_ ," Vicky replied.

Ginny entered the crowded Gryffindor common room, embittered and with the thought of the four-poster bed that awaited her at the girls' dormitory. Moreover, her mind was not only at the canopy, but also elsewhere: why was it so hard and complicated to forget about Harry Potter?

-o-o-o-o-o-

The next day, Ginny woke up in a strangely good mood, and when she and her friends got ready, they went down to the Great Hall with a smile on their faces. The boys were waiting for breakfast and chatting about this and that, once again leaving Colin and his little brother in their own unfathomable conversations. As soon as William saw them he smiled so radiantly that many Hufflepuffs at the next table sighed loudly, beating their lashes languidly and whispering excitedly among themselves.

"Good morning everyone!" he greeted the redhead energetically, sitting down next to Ritchie.

"Wonderful morning, right?" William asked, still with that smile.

Ginny nodded happily and grabbed her time table handed over gently by the boy. While she sipped her pumpkin juice, occasionally eating some chocolate biscuits, she consulted her schedules, noting that on Monday morning she was in Divination, Care of Magical Creatures with Ravenclaws, Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"The Divination Room is up at the North Tower, better have a head start," Demelza suggested Demelza, hesitantly.

When they finished breakfast and arrived at the North Tower, they promptly took seats in the strange and steamy Divination classroom, which looked more like a cross between an old-fashioned tea room and an attic, and which housed about twenty round tables that were surrounded by colored poufs. They were all out of breath and collapsed on those soft poufs, which were really rather relaxing. Alice and Rose had already been there a long time and smiled friendly, waving to them. The two of them now preferred to befriend the rest of the Gryffindors rather than Ginny and the others, but despite this they were quite mature now compared to previous years; the boys spoke very willingly with them: they had a normal relationship, as merely classmates.

"Where's the teacher?" Christopher asked the two girls.

Alice pointed to an unspecified point above the boy's shoulder, who turned around.

"Welcome, my dear students."

Behind her, Professor Trelawney suddenly appeared, who at first seemed to be a mixture of a colored fly and a dragonfly: she had large eyes and thick black glasses, the numerous shawls rich in frills tinkling annoyingly. Poor Christopher jumped and William thrust his knuckles into his mouth to try and stifle the chuckles.

The strange professor advanced into the semi-darkness, and declared in a veiled voice: "I am Professor Trelawney and this year you will learn the noble art of Divination. You may have already seen me ... but I doubt it. Confusion of the world around you blurs your _Inner Eye_ , do you know?" she nodded, colored shawls still tinkling.

Nobody dared to comment on that statement; everyone looked perplexedly at each other.

"In this hall you will all discover if you own ... the _Sight!_ " she exclaimed and, not seeing the table next to the her, she slammed into it noisily. The boys had a crazy desire to laugh. "The first term will be dedicated to reading the tea leaves, but in the next we will go on to the reading of palms and finally the crystal ball and... ohh, dear!" she added to Ritchie, who jumped.

"…yes?"

"Beware a red-haired woman." The professor whispered knowingly.

Ritchie turned to stare at Ginny, along with everyone else, who were obviously amused and intrigued, and then he pulled the chair away from her slightly. Colin began to mumble in the boy's ear, while Christopher was really having trouble remaining serious.

"Really!" Ginny snapped softly, showing all her disappointment.

"Now going back to today's lesson, each take a cup from the shelf, come to me and I will fill it ..." the professor softly ordered and the students obeyed, getting up from the colored poufs and heading for a cup from the shelf. "You have to drink until only the dregs are left, swill these around the cup three times with your left hand, then turn the cup upside down on the saucer. Interpret the patterns in your partner's cup by consulting pages five and six of _Unfogging the Future_ while I will move between you to give you a hand."

"What's in my cup?" Demelza asked anxiously, after following the teacher's instruction. The others had done what Trelawney had ordered them, and they were all excited to talk, with their heads bowed over their mugs and books.

"So ..." Ginny began, consulting page five of her book, "there's a little circle here ... no, wait ... it's an acorn, and it means: unexpected luck. Up here there's a star, which means: pleasant meeting. Oh, really nice and comfortable!"

Demelza sighed with relief, and you could see a mile away that she much quieter than before.

"And in my cup?"

"Ah, wait a minute," Demelza said and began to slide her finger across the book while Ginny's eyes were almost stuck on her, straining her neck to know quickly if she was just as lucky as her friend. "Look, I had the star and you have the moon, in fact, the crescent ... which means: moment of confusion, you will tend to have illusions," Ginny stared at her friend, who became in a single stroke very irritated, uncertain whether to continue or not. "And then you have ... wait a moment ..."

While Demelza held the book tensely, Ginny looked away, wanting to sink into the pouf and never re-emerge: even the cups sent her messages. _Moment of confusion, you will tend to have illusions_ , and what did it mean? Well, it was the truth and the girl knew it well. Lavender Brown was in Divination class, and what was predicted of her came true. Trying to think of Harry as little as possible, Ginny looked again at Demelza.

"Then here's a bird, maybe an owl, but there are no owls in the book here!"

"The truth lies buried like a phrase in the depths of a book waiting to be read," said Professor Trelawney, sailing through the various tables and Ginny stared at her with eyes narrowed into two lines. If she said one more word about the truth, she would surely try to choke her with one of her shawls. "Expand your mind, you must look beyond the concrete!" she added, spreading a hand like touching an invisible horizon.

"I cannot ..." grumbled Demelza, super concentrated, leafing through the book.

"A hand, oh dear, let me have a look, um!" the professor said softly, taking the cup from Demelza's trembling hands, but as soon as she looked in there she gave a strangled little cry and threw it on the table, with a clearly frightened expression. Demelza jumped, dropping the pink flowered decorative saucer on the ground that crashed at her feet. Now, the whole class was looking fixedly at them.

"W-What is it?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, my dear ..." Cooman whispered, looking intently at the girl, "you have ... you have the crow!"

"The Crow? And what does that mean?" Colin asked, scratching his head in bewilderment.

"The crow!" Ritchie and Christopher shouted in unison.

"Ah, _crow,_ beautiful animal, eh?"

"Honor of death, mortal danger!" the professor continued, as if nothing had interrupted her. Her gaze was glassy, as if she could really see beyond the concrete. "I remember that my grandmother used to say: _if on your way the Crow you meet, so much trouble in the future you will pass_. Oh, well ... she was right! "

Ginny visibly blanched, eyes widening. She ripped the cup from the teacher's hands, and looked inside, trying to find a way out of that situation but it was useless: the animal was really a crow. That cup certainly was not as benign as Demelza's! First the messages alluding to Harry Potter, now not only was she having illusions but also had to be careful what was happening all the time because she could die at any moment because of the crow!

"B-but ..."

"And you also have red hair, my darling! This brings more harm than anything else!"

The other students got up from their poufs and approached that table.

"That's nonsense!" William hissed irritably, taking the cup to look at it and placing it gently on the table.

"But William ..." objected Ritchie, pointing to the crow in the cup, and keeping at a distance.

"I do not think it's really a crow, I mean ... I thought it was a goose!" replied Rose, giving very light pats on Ginny's shoulder, trying in vain to convey tranquility and indifference. Despite her being so tense, she noticed that Rose did not seem excited to be a few centimeters from William: the crush that lasted the entirety of first and second year seemed to have passed, as well as her _enormous_ stupidity.

"Rose, you could see a mile away that it is a crow..." Alice whispered.

"What if it's all a mistake?" Demelza asked hopefully. "An error?" repeated Vicky, who was very intimidated by that cup and by Ginny, as if she expected to see her fall dead on the floor at any moment, quite in the same way as everyone else in the room. The girl was starting to be annoyed at the way her classmates stared at her, and tried not to meet the gaze of any of them.

The teacher seemed in a state of deep inner meditation, her eyes rolled up to heaven.

"But what will happen to her now, Professor?" asked Colin quickly, pointing to her friend. "Does she have to be careful, or do we have to run away from her so as to not be infected by this ugly curse, or do we have to be near her to offer her protection, a… uh, positive aura?"

Christopher and William burst out laughing; Vicky and Alice protested loudly.

"I think we have to be close to her, don't we?" Colin said, smiling.

"Of course we must!"

"Could something really happen to her?"

"Something deadly maybe?"

Ginny stared at them all furiously, stumbling along that insignificant lesson and blurted out: "Oh Divine Mother ... are you done!?"

"Oh yes, I would say that the lesson ends here ..." concluded Professor Trelawney, moving away from them and reaching the chair. "pack away your things…"

Ginny grabbed her stuff in an angrily, and stormed out of the classroom, falling down the trapdoor ladder. There were strangled shrieks and muffled shouts, then the girl tiredly raised a hand to show that she was not dead yet. Rising quickly from the cold floor, convinced she had fractured her wrist, she slipped away with Demelza on her heels, who suggested an immediate visit to Madame Pomfrey.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The rest of the day's lessons were much more enjoyable than Divination, and Ginny's spirits definitely went up.

At the Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Hagrid made them work on creatures that were called Flobberworms that were like worms and were very funny as well as disgusting, but after all it was fun to feed them with Hagrid, who always put them to them comfortable with the Ravenclaws. Another nice lesson was Muggle Studies, in which Professor Charity Burbage gave them notes on the major objects such as stacks and thorns, after first making a speech about the relationship between wizards and Muggles, promising them in the next lesson she would bring an object that was battery operated. Ginny and Vicky had a pleasant lesson before meeting everyone else in the common room: Demelza had been at Ancient Runes and the others, who had not chosen a third subject, had a one-hour free period and had been playing all the while.

But the most beautiful and interesting lesson was that of Defense against the Dark Arts, because Professor Moody went directly to teaching them some spells that proved very dangerous (Moody said: "That's why I wanted you to learn them! Off you go, and constant vigilance!" that was his motto) and then they were made to take notes on the exercises from that day. Demelza, however, was very upset by that lesson, but the boys were still all excited.

"It's scary ..." Vicky mumbled along the seventh-floor corridor, "I don't think that eye should be allowed. Have you seen what he did? He looked behind his head and saw me talking to Ritchie! "

The boy in question shuddered.

"Forget the eye," replied Demelza hurriedly, "I don't think those lessons should be allowed! Magic of that kind are what's meant to be shown in the seventh year to prepare for their exams! What game is he playing?"

"It's enough already if he didn't ask us to duel _each other_ ," murmured Vicky melodramatically.

"Let's just go!" Christopher and William burst in unison; the girl shrugged and kept walking.

"Dumbledore is not stupid, is he? He will have everything under control ..." Ritchie murmured, trying to convince himself.

"Of course!" William confirmed.

"Yeah, Ritchie is right ... with times like now, Dumbledore just wants us to be experienced," Ginny said and nodded. "That Sirius Black sparked panic, it is obvious that Dumbledore wants us to train as much as possible!"

"Exactly!" William immediately agreed.

"Yeah, well ... it does make sense," Christopher said.

"Do you seriously believe that the Death Eaters are posted outside the school?" Demelza said skeptically. "No, there must be something underneath ... working from the inside…" she added worriedly and, stopping at the portrait of the Fat Lady, said the password in a silent whisper.

-o-o-o-o-o-

September passed with surprising speed between lessons, various entertainments and excitement for the upcoming Triwizard Tournament. All the students could not wait to take part in this new adventure; by the thirtieth of October, nobody was sitting steadily in their skin.

That day the lessons had ended earlier to give everyone time to prepare properly, and the Hogwarts students were summoned outside, where they stayed for more than a quarter of an hour waiting for the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Everyone was happy to welcome them, especially for the tournament motto of International Magic Cooperation, that the wizards and witches of different schools could cooperate, making friends with each other.

After what seemed like hours, little Dennis Canon shouted.

"LOOK!"

Everyone raised their heads and noticed a large carriage drawn by white horses, which landed in the schoolyard. In less than no time, the students of Beauxbatons slipped out of their great carriage and sneaked into Hogwarts to warm themselves, following their headmistress, Madame Maxime, who was twice as tall as a normal man. Probably she was a half-giant too, because the only one they'd seen of that size was the half-giant Hagrid.

"How come they're dressed so lightly?" Christopher asked, staring at the back of the students trickling inside.

"In France it is not so cold in October, it's in a region with temperate climate…" Demelza informed them, "I don't think they expected it, might have just escaped everyone's mind… I do hope those from Durmstrang will hurry up because I am freezing to death!"

"And hungry ..." Ginny said with a small smile, scanning the sky for some other flying carriage.

After five minutes, Demelza's wish came true and from Great Lake came out what looked like a big charmed underwater ship. Soon even the Durmstrang students, wrapped in heavy furs (unlike those of Beauxbatons), reached them in the courtyard and entered the castle, followed closely by the students of Hogwarts. While the students from the various houses walked to their tables, Ginny almost fainted.

"Viktor Krum!" someone shouted.

It was indeed Krum himself, the Bulgarian Quidditch player who had so much moved the world: Viktor Krum stepped forward and sat down at the Slytherin table, along with all his Durmstrung classmates as they had been instructed. The Beaubaxtons students settled at the Ravenclaws, still trembling from the cold, but no one paid them any attention as Krum curiously scanned the hall.

Demelza gripped Ginny's arm, unable to utter a word.

"Have you seen him, Dem? Our dreams came true! I can't wait to get an autograph!"

"I did not think he was still going to school ..."

"Me neither."

"I do ... well, it's obvious: my mother is a sports journalist!" replied Vicky all perky, kneeling on the bench to see Krum. Ritchie imitated her immediately, in the grip of emotion too strong; Meanwhile, William stared at Ginny and the girls, snorting loudly and mumbling his disappointment, announcing that he was only an internationally renowned Quidditch player. Therefore, nothing.

Once everyone was settled, Dumbledore announced for the start of the feast, and international magical cooperation or not, the Hogwarts students were not giving away their food.

When a girl from Beaubaxtons, who looked like a Veela, came to get a typical French specialty from the Gryffindor table, Christopher and William gasped (along with many students on the table): it was the girls' turn to be irritated. Ginny wanted to make Evanesce the beautiful girl just to not show her to Harry, who seemed rather struck by her visible beauty.

Once all the gold plates were empty, Dumbledore stood up.

"The moment has come ... the Triwizard Tournament is about to start!" he said and the excitement was palpable. The students bounced on the chairs, and stretched their necks to better see their Headmaster. "Three champions will compete in the tournament, they will receive scores based on their demonstrated skills in each of the tasks, and one of them will come out on top to win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Every watched as the Headmaster opened the casket, revealing the Goblet of Fire, filled to the brim with blue and white dancing flames.

"Anyone wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," Dumbledore continued, "aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the Goblet will return the names of the three it has judged worthiest to represent their schools. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all." he added, spreading his arms.

Ginny felt the euphoria penetrate her skin as she made her way through the students to reach the Gryffindor Tower, but not that she wanted to deceive the Goblet of Fire ... because she was sure that a third year did not have a shred of chance. She was only curious to see the champions clash and face the various tasks. Who knows what would happen... who would have be chosen as the Hogwarts champion? All to be found out the next day!

* * *

 _ **There we go, hang around for the next chapter? It'll be up in a couple of hours.**_

 _ **Review?**_

 _ **~Helena H. (editor; Ermory owns this account and she translates)**_

 **Next: One school, two champions**


	25. One school, two champions

_**FINALLY I keep a promise! Helena here, and this is your second chapter of the day :)**_

 _ **Note from Ermory: I am so sorry , i have no fixed internett and i'm using my moms phone data, also my phone died on me and i can barely sta in contact with Helena let alone send the files. It is very difficult cuz she can't use google wich extends to gmail, ugh. Anyway i hope you ejoy the chapter and i am so so so sorry for being late. We are becoming like Liza Koshy, we say we publish a day but we alway publish a day later lmao. Se y'all next week.**_

 _ **(I think she texted me that, and I decided against editing her grammar *devil smirk*) (honestly though the only way I'm contacting her right now is through emails)**_

 ** _Aaaanywayyy,, enjoy the chapter_**

 _ **Oh and also, we don't own this, JK Rowling does. And you should know by now the story was originally written in Italian by EmPotter, we're only translating (and clumsily editing- that's me); the original story can be found on EFPfanfic, called 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'**_

* * *

 **One school, two champions**

"They couldn't exactly have waited for us, eh?"

"Don't blame them ... it's still early, they probably want to see who would put their name down for the tournament."

Ginny and Demelza were walking fast toward the Great Hall, excited and curious to see the students of Hogwarts, Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang approaching the Goblet of Fire and entering their name into the blue flames. They had remained alone because the others, as soon as they were prepared, immediately ran down to watch, leaving them behind.

"Rogue ..." Ginny muttered, but she was not angry. "Oh listen, about the guys ... did you notice that William's always behaving strangely?"

Demelza stared at her, then seemed to be much more interested in the portraits of the knights hanging on the wall to her right, and she uttered no words. She seemed rather nervous, as if undecided about what to say, or whether she should speak at all.

"Well basically, ever since the beginning of the year he has had such an... _unusual_ behavior, do you know what I mean?" Ginny continued, unaware that Demelza was not listening to her. Or rather, she _pretended_ very well not to be listening to her, paying attention to the portraits instead. "Dem ... are you listening to me or not?" she added, as she turned to stare at her, hands on hips and waiting for an answer.

"Er ..." said Demelza, suddenly stopping outside the hospital wing, "are those your brothers there?"

Frowning, Ginny approached her and stepped into the infirmary, and recognized Fred and George… who did not look like Fred and George at all. They each had an elderly face, thick white beard and hair that matched Dumbledore's, as if they tried to grow old. Had they really tried to get old? For what? Disconcerted, she stared again at her brothers trying to figure out ... the answer came in the form of Lee Jordan's howls of laughter.

"I had felt the both of them would attempt it," Albus Dumbledore's calm and amused voice replied, "I did warn everyone against falling under the Goblet's temptation," he sighed, with a—Ginny could swear it was—smug smile. "Aging Potion, wasn't it?"

"An _Aging Potion_?"

Ginny burst out and laughed uncontrollably, holding her stomach while Demelza hissed at her silently, and everyone turned to watch them (including two other guys with long, stubbly grey beards). Professor Dumbledore was kind: he invited the two of them into the room with a gesture and the two obeyed, the first willingly and the second reluctant, until they reached the twins' bed. Demelza now seemed very uneasy to be in the same room with Albus Dumbledore himself, and tugged at her friend's robe impatiently.

"You two are-" Ginny broke off abruptly, not knowing how to define her brothers with a word appropriate in front of the school Headmaster, "ugh ... Aging Potion, come on!" she decided to change the subject. "Do you think the Headmaster is dumb? Oh boys, but the white beards quite suit you, you know that?" she added delightedly, and it took her all her willpower to keep her face serious. Demelza smiled in embarrassment, and Fred winked at her.

"You think so?" he replied this last comment, touching his beard; George stroked his with a fake snobbish gesture.

"You're practically irresistible," Lee said, kissing one twin's hand and blowing a kiss in the direction of the other, and the boys burst out laughing again, including Demelza, who really could not help herself. Albus Dumbledore chuckled and gave a half-hearted warning gesture towards an amused Lee, then turned to a girl on the next bed who complained that she wanted to rid the grey and annoying rubbish from her face.

"But why the hell did you two do that?" Ginny asked her brothers, leaning towards them with a smile.

"You know, we really wanted to be in the tournament" George replied sadly, then he recovered, adding: "But it does not matter, we can always try again next time, we could even tell our children that we saw each other old and grey before we even saw them grow!"

"This is so cool!" Fred remarked cheerfully, watching his reflection from an empty tray.

"What are you even looking at? Just look at your twin!" Lee said with a chuckle, grabbing the tray from his friend's hands.

"I don't know ... I think I'll always look better than George, even when I'm old!"

George gave a _delicate_ pat on the back of his twin, then together they returned to jokes. When Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell (George moved slightly on the bed as soon as she saw Katie) also came to the hospital wing to investigate the damage inflicted on the twins, Ginny told herself that it was probably time to disappear. Waving with her hand, she impatiently dragged away by Demelza, and together they reached the Great Hall, joining the others.

"So who has put their name in?" Demelza asked immediately, while Ginny quickly looked around: Colin had disappeared along with his little brother (as it happened often these days); Neville and Dean smiled in greeting to the girl while William made room for her on his left, away from the fourth years.

"All the Durmstrang's, all the Beauxbatons', Warrington of Slytherin ..." Vicky informed, but was interrupted.

"Warrington? But we _cannot_ have a Slytherin champion!" Ginny was horrified, slapping onto the wood of the table and staring at her friend in disbelief, as if expecting the name to be immediately corrected. Not so, of course: Vicky did not correct herself and just shrugged.

"Who is Warrington?" Demelza asked confusedly, spying the Slytherin table.

"The Serpent Quidditch team captain," Ritchie replied, before giving a big bite to his croissant. "He looks like a ...sloth, you know?" he added, the image recalled really was accurate.

"Oh, that's terrible!" Demelza said, shaking her head in resignation. "Anyone else?"

"From what I know Angelina Johnson and Cedric Diggory have also put-"

"Did you have doubts?" Christopher snapped in disgust, interrupting Ritchie and casting a contemptuous glance at the Hufflepuff table, in perfect jubilation. "Would anyone think that _Diggory_ ", he said the name imitating a shrill female voice, "would not want to be the Champion!"

"You know, I don't think that guy is here to snub everyone," Demelza said, taking Cedric's side, "and I've heard he's a model student ... Chris ... don't give me that stupid face! Oh I forgot, he's also a Prefect!" she added, as Vicky nodded delightedly.

"You only like him because he looks good ..."

"Looks very good!"

"Come on, Cedric is also a very good person, don't you know?" Ginny intervened, sending down some more toast with jam.

"Now do you like Diggory?" William asked immediately, turning to stare at her.

"NO!" stunned, the girl protested, and raised an eyebrow as he snorted with skepticism.

"All the girls like that Cedric, don't _you_ know?"

"Well ... he was really very nice, but you know very well who I like!"

"Yeah, I know very well," William replied, with a frightening coldness.

Demelza and Vicky, who had followed their brief conversation with their mouths open, immediately closed them at the furious gaze of Ginny; William, however, leaned towards Ritchie to grab a croissant, just to do something. Christopher chuckled, quite amused by what seemed like a comic conversation between an old married couple.

"Are you guys done?" Ginny glared around once more.

Demelza gave a little cough, and changed the subject. Ginny was really grateful, partly because she had no idea what's up with William: a minute ago he was all adorable and a moment later he seemed to be the incarnation of the devil himself. What could she ever make of those strange symptoms? Was it some sort of alter ego? Ginny thought about it while pretending to pay attention to Demelza's monologue, then her heart leapt.

 _Does William have a crush on me?_

Impossible, they were friends. And she was imagining too much ... yes, she really had a huge imagination; or hallucinations, illusions. She remembers that.

"Dem, give us a break, get up and go befriend the Bulgarians and French in the courtyard, come on!" Vicky hurriedly put an end to the monologue about her friend's classes, which no one so far had dared, so as to… not hurt Demelza's feelings. Vicky took her by the arm, encouraging her to get up immediately from the bench, under the amazed gazes of the boys. Ginny burst out laughing, but she got up from the Gryffindor table to join her two friends.

"Er ... are you coming?" Demelza asked her, trying to shake off Vicky, with no success.

Ginny looked askew at William, and said, "Of course I'm coming!"

He became almost red and stared at her with resentment, and while the girl was leaving the Great Hall followed by her two friends (fighting and laughing behind her), she could not help but think sadly that his doubts about William had just been consolidated. She would certainly have to chat with her two girl-friends, concerning that strange situation coming up to her neck.

*o*o*o*o*o*

"It's cold ... let's go inside…"

For the minutes that the three girls spent waiting for the boys of Durmstrang or Beauxbatons to come out alive from somewhere, they had talked about nothing but them and the Triwizard Tournament, speculating about who would be chosen as the champion of the various schools, and thinking about what tasks would they have to face. Demelza told them about a particular occasion that caused death of one of the Triwizard champion, and another that injured even the judges, then collectively they decided for a more cheerful topic. Besides, Ginny had not yet told her friends about her guy-friend and her strange suspicions about his behavior, and she has to act quickly, spill it out before the foreign students really arrived.

"Dem ... did they ever tell you that you're a big social recluse?" Vicky retorted with a chuckle, lying under a big tree and letting the wind caress her blonde hair. In response, Demelza snorted but then she too sat down.

"Then you're the other extreme!"

"Oh, first you scold me for dating and now I can't do…"

"... conquests? No, you cannot, Goldstein could be mad!"

"We are going through a period of crisis; I need to get air. You understand? _Air,_ my dear Demelza!"

"As you wish," said Demelza, shrugging with the shadow of a smile on her lips.

"I always liked the lake ..." Ginny muttered absently, approaching the water and looking inside: her red-headed reflection clashed with the black uniform of Hogwarts. The girl knew that her two friends were watching her closely, so she continued: "Did you two see William's face when I said I was coming with you to make friends with the Bulgarians and the French?" And when I said that Cedric was a very good person?"

She was continued to be ignored like earlier, yet Ginny was more than sure that the two had just exchanged a meaningful look. What did they know about this?

And why didn't they want to talk to her? Ginny did not want to turn around and find that the two looked at her with apprehension, and waited for them to talk. She had waited for more than ten seconds when Demelza finally broke the silence.

"Ginny, we really wanted to reveal our suspicions but we believed that ..."

"... I have been worse" Ginny concluded for herself, feeling suddenly like the protagonist in some strange Argentine soap opera.

"Oh come on, you're both exaggerating! William is beautiful both inside and out," Vicky said briskly, particularly emphasizing the word _out_ as she delicately smoothed her skirt. "And if I were you I'd give him a chance, you know?"

"I do not want to send our friendship to _scarlet women_ , Vic!" Ginny protested, all red in the face. She finally turned her back on the Great Lake, and sat down on the grass next to her friends.

"To what?"

"Scarlet women, well, that's what my mum says..."

Vicky giggled loudly, then after she had calmed herself she softly admitted: "You're right ... don't be sending a friendship to... scarlet women ... William must have lost his mind, there's a risk of ruining all the friendship built through the three years that we know each other!"

"Yeah ... but these are only just theories, aren't they?" Ginny said, slightly afraid.

Demelza shook her head slightly, then decided to say something encouraging. "Of course they're just theories, Red Head! We're not sure yet, we don't really know if Will is really in love with you so... just don't worry!"

The tone she used seemed completely fake, because Demelza did not usually encourage people when the truth had surfaced. She had always been a rather realistic girl, sometimes very pessimistic, and that tone scared Ginny even more, who already wanted no more of that situation. If her friend is now preferring not to be a realist, then that was a very serious situation indeed.

"Heard Demelza? Don't worry!"

"Yes… but we've been out here for what seemed like centuries… why don't we go inside?", Demelza asked, standing up as if that would be enough to convince her friends to move their legs as well, taking them somewhere, probably the common room.

"But..."

"You know, I don't think foreigners leave their homes to hang around in the castle or out here in the grounds."

Ginny thought about it and found that Demelza was right: they had waited for the Bulgarians and the French to no avail, because in all that time they were there no one had seen one person leaving the ship or the carriage. Even Vicky noticed, and precisely for that reason she stood up and walked towards the castle first.

"I'm not really entirely sure if it's true, you know ..." Demelza murmured, a mixture of amusement and guilt about having lied to a friend.

Ginny giggled loudly. "It's probably true then!" she consoled her.

*o*o*o*o*o*

"So have you made friends with the foreigners?" William asked scornfully, when, at half past five, the girls got ready and went down to the Common Room to join their friends in going down to the Great Hall before the champions' verdict. The room was clearly filled with some agitation, and the students' chatter revolved around nothing but the champions, the tournament, Cedric Diggory…

Ginny glanced at her friends, and replied: "The foreigners don't go for walks, they didn't come out at all."

"Oh really?" asked Colin, who had finally joined his friends after a long time, having left his little brother in the company of some of his classmates, albeit with regret. William turned to the girl, all concerned not to miss a single word.

"Yep," Vicky snorted, and from the single syllable emerged all her considerable disappointment, "and now if you don't mind, I would like to go down to the Great Hall for dinner and see who will be the Hogwarts champion; and if you would permit, I want to go now!" she added, barking at Ritchie's legs spread out in front of her feet.

Once she had passed the boy, she promptly climbed through the portrait hole.

"She almost knocked me onto the ground, did you see her, Ritchie?" Colin asked quickly, amazed.

"Oh, she really took it badly, eh?" Christopher muttered.

"So it seems," Ginny giggled, amused, while Demelza stared worriedly at where her friend had just disappeared.

"Let's hurry up too, come on!" Ritchie urged them, and was the second to climb through the portrait.

*o*o*o*o*o*

The Halloween feast was more delicious than usual, which was most likely because it was really a special time for the students. As for Ginny, the bright feast filled with pumpkins and sweets horribly reminded her of the first year feast, and for a moment she sat stunned, before remembering that she had not gone back in time and that this Halloween would have been more than happy. Thinking back, the Halloweens at Hogwarts had always been a total fiasco: first the Chamber of Secrets, then the business of Sirius Black ... the girl hoped that at least this time everything would go well.

"The Goblet of Fire is almost ready to make his decisions," Dumbledore announced suddenly, when the gold plates were wiped immaculate. "Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber, where they will be receiving their first instructions."

There was really very little to say: under the silence, the Great Hall was boiling with excitement.

"We hope it's Angelina Johnson," Ginny said excitedly, glancing at the girl in question: tall, black and athletic, she was the Gryffindor Quidditch Slayer. They had talked a couple of times, and she was really very nice. Many Gryffindors seemed to think like Ginny, because they were incessantly comforting Angelina, smiling.

Meanwhile Dumbledore had taken out his wand and gave a broad wave: the candles went out, and the Goblet was the only sparkling source of light. The dancing blue flames of the cup were pleasing to the eye but soon those flames turned red, and sparks flew from it. From the Goblet of Fire darted a tongue of fire, and a piece of parchment was shot into the air. Dumbledore grabbed it and ...

"The champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum!" he read loudly and clearly.

There was a roar of applause and everyone congratulated the new Durmstrang champion, who was above all an internationally renowned Quidditch champion. Needless to say, those applauses and comments lasted a long time, as Krum headed awkwardly towards Dumbledore, only to disappear through the door the Headmaster had indicated.

"Who, if not Krum, for Durmstrang?" Ritchie said cheerfully, applauding again.

"GO KRUM!" Vicky shrieked in a shrill voice, as if she were at the World Cup stadium.

Suddenly, the clapping and the comments were instantly extinguished: the Goblet had given off another tongue of fire, followed closely by a spark. Now everyone's attention was focused on the Goblet, as a second piece of parchment was sent into the air.

"The champion for Beauxbatons champion is Fleur Delacour!"

Ginny and the others clapped politely while the girl who looked like a Veela, who had laughed during Dumbledore's first speech when everyone had arrived at the castle, and who had strutted and sailed to the Gryffindor table taking French food, stood up gracefully and, throwing back her brilliant hair, advanced towards Dumbledore.

"Oooh, they're left bad," Demelza whispered, pointing to the other Beauxbatons students.

No, they were not simply left bad… even worse, actually! Two girls had burst into tears, sobbing with all their strength, their heads resting on their arms, while some friends consoled them.

When Fleur Delacour also disappeared into the room, the excitement could be felt even in the bones: it was the Hogwarts champion's turn. The Goblet of Fire turned red once more and everyone held their breath noisily when Dumbledore grabbed that third piece of parchment. Whoever knows who would be representing the school, whoever knows who would be participating in the tournament…

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" shouted Dumbledore.

There was a deafening roar, which Ginny compared to the Quidditch World Cup: every single Hufflepuff had jumped up, shouting Cedric's name and jumping, as the boy advanced among his companions with a big smile on his face. Some Gryffindors and Ravenclaws also stood up, while the clapping still raged in the Great Hall. Even after Cedric passed through the door behind the teachers' table, the applauses took quite a while to stop.

"Excellent, we now have our three champions!" Dumbledore cried cheerfully. "I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support ..."

But he broke off suddenly, and everyone understood why: the fire of the Goblet was not blue, but it had turned red. There was another round of bright sparks, and without warning, a fourth piece of parchment was thrown into the air. Dumbledore held out his hand and caught it, staring at it in disbelief.

"What the hell is going on?" Demelza whispered, hands shaking with agitation.

"A fourth sheet of parchment, and what does it mean? Weren't there three champions already? You had told me that ... "

"Shut up, Colin!"

For a long moment there was a silence, full of tension and curiosity, then Dumbledore read out: "Harry Potter"

Ginny opened her mouth wide and turned abruptly to look at the boy, who sat blankly, food dropped from his hand onto the floor. No. It's impossible. He's not the required age… not even Fred and George had managed! By now, all the heads of the Great Hall had turned to look but Harry didn't seem to care much, because he kept staring at Dumbledore and the piece of parchment in his hand, convinced that it was a bad joke. There was no applause, but there were no excuses ...

"How is it possible?" Vicky wondered, turning to Demelza.

"He wouldn't have put his name in there himself. Seriously, Harry would not do it!" Colin defended him resolutely.

"No ..." Demelza whispered tense, "it certainly couldn't have been him! The Goblet of Fire is a very powerful magical object and a fourteen-year-old could never make a spell so powerful to confuse it, there must have been a mistake!"

Ginny could not say a word, shaking her head as if this was really a Halloween joke.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore said again. "Harry, up here, if you please."

The boy staggered up, stumbling on his own feet, and walked through the space between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, still agitated and very pale. All eyes were fixed on him, comments and whispers were directed only to him, whispers that became more and more intense as Harry approached Dumbledore. In the end, he disappeared behind the door with the three other champions. As soon as Dumbledore and teachers followed him, hell broke loose.

"He's a cheater!" a Hufflepuff screamed.

"He is not seventeen!"

"The glory was Cedric's! Why did he steal it?!"

"He cheated us all!"

By now, the protests were echoing between the four walls of the Great Hall.

"There must be something wrong!" Ginny exclaimed

"Could it be that…well… maybe he got someone bigger to put his name in for him?" William asked uncertainly.

"He would _never_ do that!" Ginny was furious, glaring at the boy as if he was mad.

"Hey, it's just a theory..."

"Calm down everyone, it's clear that it was not him!" Demelza snapped, taking control of the situation. "Even if he did as William says..." she raised his voice because Ginny had opened her mouth to protest, "... no fourteen-year-old student could have made a spell so powerful—like I said earlier—to make the Goblet forget that there are only three, and not four schools!"

Everyone was speechless.

"And that is it," she concluded simply, screaming just because the exclamations in the hall raged higher and higher.

When McGonagall returned to the Great Hall and ordered everyone to quiet down and leave for their dorms, everyone obeyed. The Gryffindors were chatting excitedly as they walked up the corridors to the Tower. Ginny, however, was restless ... she trusted the boy, and knew it was not him. How much more would he have to endure to make others believe him?

Again, a Hogwarts Halloween was ruined.

* * *

 _ **Poor Harry. Please review if you liked this, we would really appreciate it. I know it's basically a replay of the original, but the perspective is nice I guess. So, echoing Ermory, see y'all next week (that's the first time I've ever used y'all and it's weird)**_

 ** _~Helena H._**

 **Next: The first task**

 _ **P.S. I have NO idea what the hell scarlet woman means. And I didn't know what on Earth to do with it, so I left it there.**_


	26. The First Task

_**Howdy yáll this time its actualy Ermory**_ _(helena is here in not-bold)_ **,** _ **Helena is having problems with her internet in China** (hey it's only VPN that sucks). **As for the note she left last chapter... that little gremlin promised me that she would** **corrected** (.^.) **:c** **so** **now i state this: Helena is just a small gremlin and i am a very tall midget.**_

 _ **But back to the story.**_

 _ **Oh and also, we don't own this, JK Rowling does. And you should know by now the story was originally written in Italian by EmPotter, we're only translating (and clumsily editing- that's me** (Ermory please at least read what you copy-pasted you're translator Helena is editor) **)** ; **the original story can be found on EFPfanfic, called**_ _ **'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'** (Ermory is a copy-paster)_

* * *

 **The First Task**

Ginny did not believe that the moods of the Hogwarts students would return to a calmer disposition merely a day after the emergence of Harry Potter's name from the Goblet of Fire, but she certainly couldn't believe that the students did nothing but insult the boy.

Last evening, the Gryffindors tried to throw a small party, to celebrate the fourth champion, but as the subject of celebration didn't join them, the others soon broke away. His face, his expressions remained imprinted in Ginny's mind like ink on parchment… how could the others, how could anyone, believe him to be so arrogant as to "steal Cedric's glory"?

;•-•-•-•-•;

"Two hours of Snape with Slytherins and one hour of Hagrid with Ravenclaws this morning… what a day!"

"Care of Magical Creatures is actually fun!"

"Not when Hagrid keeps trying to get us to pet those horrifying and disgusting creatures ..."

Ginny nodded unconvincingly, quickly spreading cherry jam on a slice of toast, as she listened to Christopher and Demelza blabber on about the various lessons of that day, so far particularly focusing on the first three periods. Spread, spread and dip. Simple movements, repeated several times, had lasted more than a minute for the girl, who had her head completely up in the clouds.

"Hermione, just stop tormenting me!"

A single angry voice managed, incredibly, to catch Ginny's attention. She blinked and turned slowly to her left: her brother, Ron, and Hermione quarreled, as their usual doing, attracting many looks from curious Gryffindors.

"You really are being an idiot, Ronald! Do you really believe this?"

Hermione's voice was so sharp and biting that Ginny thought it was a miracle the glass jars and goblets on the table didn't break from the pressure, though this seemed to be unnoticed by both of them.

"Do you know what _he_ told me?" Ron continued, in the same furious tone was before voice as before. He had completely abandoned his breakfast to address Hermione, who was staring at him, equally warningly. "He said that if he would put his name in, he would do it at night because no one would see it ... Ask yourself, Hermione! The mantle, the map ... you think those are coincidences?"

"You can't possibly really think so—"

Ginny snatched a napkin from the table and wiped it distractedly over her mouth, her mind working and boiling frantically as she intended to get up any moment to reach the pair.

"He's not trusting me because of who I am: the _stupid_ friend of the _great_ Harry Potter!" Ron snapped, with a sadness in his eyes she'd never seen before. "I got tired, I got tired of being... it doesn't really matter…" he added with a mutter.

"Where are you going?" William asked suddenly, staring at the redhead with a careful and guarded look.

Incredulous and furious, Ginny had finally shot up from the bench and, attracting the attention of her friends, marched down to her brother and Hermione, leaving her slice of toast half eaten in her golden plate and—

"Such compliments!" she said, looking at Ron with a fake encouraging smile.

"Ginn—"

"Even you're thinking he's lying, and that's someone who's meant to be his best friend!" his sister cut him off with a never-before-seen fire in her eyes. Hermione lowered her hand, which had been rising in greeting, and her forced smile collapsed immediately, aware by now that Ginny had heard their entire conversation. But Ginny didn't care to have eavesdropped, or to have passed Hermione's eyes almost rudely. For now, she did not care at all.

"Oh Merlin ... not you too!" Ron exclaimed exasperatedly, rolling his eyes, and it was clear that in his voice there was not only exasperation, but also that devastating note of sadness. He lowered his head, hiding his eyes from the sight, and gave a small bite to his toast.

"He needs you right now, and you abandon him?" Ginny insisted in disbelief, closing up on him and staring at the small side of her brother's face she could see at that moment. "Do you realize what you're doing? It's no accident that Harry's name ended up there!"

Ron snorted in response, and continued eating.

"What kind of best friend are you?" Ginny said again, raising her voice without realizing it.

"Am I?" Ron roared darkly, raising his head and abandoning his breakfast. Some Hufflepuffs, drawn to the chaos at the Gryffindor table, turned to also look at what was going on.

It was the first time that Ginny saw his brother so devastated and that expression truly frightened her.

"Of course!" the boy continued, slamming a very strong fist on the table. "I'll just have to explain to everyone, while you lot interfere in things that do not concern you. It's none of your business, understand? You're only talking now because you like him!"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

Without trying to count up to three to hold in the throes of anger, it boiled in excess, and Ginny blindly grabbed the first thing that was within reach and threw it in her brother's face, which was now as red as his hair: Ron's face and clothes became covered with soggy, sticky honey grains. Ron's eyes widened and he cursed the cereal away, before glaring at her and disappearing from the Great Hall to go to the bathroom.

"I'm sorry ..." Ginny whispered, her breathing was short and her cheeks still flushed. Students from the Great Hall, who had fully enjoyed the show, began to return to their breakfast and the chatter resumed quickly.

;•-•-•-•-•;

"Thanks ..." she mumbled, grateful that she wouldn't have to start the potion all over again. She looked around awkwardly for the right ingredient, before her friend pointed it out, dragging her arm towards the roots.

"Er ... you're still thinking of Ron, aren't you?" Demelza asked insightfully, in a whisper so barely audible that Ginny had to lean forward to hear it, the roots hanging in the air above the boiling cauldron.

"Yeah," she answered.

"You shouldn't have reacted that way, but ... I trust that you know"

"I know, but it made me angry, the problem is that I'm very impulsive and ... ow!"

Rubbing with her free hand at a sore spot on the back of her head, she pinned around quickly, as did Demelza, and saw that Harper was laughing loudly: he had thrown a salamander's eye at her to get her attention.

"What the hell do you want?" Ginny snapped, contemptuously.

"You know, the news went around quickly ... had you really shouted at your precious little brother, silly of a Weasley?" Harper asked with a mocking grin, as the Syrians around him giggled.

"It's none of your business what I did or did not—"

"Silence! It's barely the time for small talks!" Snape warned, sternly as usual, staring at Ginny with an expression that no one had ever seen appear on his olive face. "Mr. Harper, leave Weasley and return to your potion please. At this instant."

Harper opened his mouth a moment, surprised, as most people soon imitated him: had Snape really just forgone an opportunity to take points from Gryffindor? Ordering a Slytherin to leave a rebel Gryffindor alone? There was something wrong, even the Slytherins had noticed. In any case, the rest of the lesson passed with the whispered chatters between students, wondering why that gesture so unusual... then Snape made up, removing points from Gryffindor because Colin kept mumbling in ears of the poor Ritchie like a machine, all crowned with a "but he didn't take points from Ginny!".

;•-•-•-•-•;

The days passed and Ginny went back on speaking terms with her brother, who had apologized to her for raising his voice and accusing her of a crush on his best friend (yes, it was true, however, it's not something to flaunt around!). Ron kept telling her that he's trying to make up with Harry, but the boy was too busy with the first task ahead of him, so he would try after that's through, when people would calm down. In addition to giving her this good news, he had given her another... terrible news: the first task was to fight with a giant dragon. Charlie, their older brother, was secretly staying there at Hogwarts, and kept the creatures in the Forbidden Forest. Ron had apparently heard from Hagrid, though the half-giant hand't seen him.

The day of the first task arrived quickly ...

"This might interest you," Vicky said in a flirting tone, taking a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Ritchie and putting in front of Ginny the newspaper the day before. "Johanna gave it to me, you know, she had just finished reading the Harry Potter article, so I took the paper and thought I'd give it to you, as I was sure you'd read it with pleasure ..."

"Thank you very much," Ginny interrupted irritably, looking up and flipping through the newspaper. Soon enough, she found the article about the boy and began to read it, abandoning her breakfast for a second and glancing at the interviewee in question, who sat with Hermione.

With every line of the Rita Skeeter nonsense she read, the more her frown deepened, and the more disgusted she was.

"All bloody well made up!" the girl snapped, crumpling and throwing away the newspaper. "And I'd like a word with Colin, you know, first he leaves us as if we were the last of his thoughts, then he tries to modify those Slytherin badges and making everything worse, and now finally he's inventing absurd stories about Harry and Hermione. . this isn't normal!"

Nobody felt like saying anything about it, but Christopher nodded. Breakfast passed rather sullenly, then when McGonagall took Harry and Cedric out of the Great Hall, the tension skyrocketed. In less than half an hour, the four champions would have to deal with an almost indestructible dragon. How the hell were they going to do it? How do you destroy a colossal dragon to complete that first task?

"Hey!" Demelza snapped her fingers in front of her friend's face. "We have to go down to the stands, the task will be starting!"

Ginny jumped up and, together with her friends and the other Gryffindors, walked towards the pitch, curious and at the same time frightened, to watch the competition. In the distance she saw Ron, Hermione and Neville, so she went forward with her friends, who chatted happily, to join them.

"I have a bad feeling ..." Neville mumbled, taking a seat in the stands. Hermione, who was taciturn at most, tormenting her hands nervously in her lap, gave Ginny a frightened look and she gave her an encouraging one in return.

"He will manage, he's strong ... we all know that," she said firmly.

"Very true!" Ron replied unexpectedly, who was purple in the face from all the tension.

"Good day to you all!" suddenly shouted the voice of Ludo Bagman, amplified with magic. "Are we nervous? Excited? Well, the first task is going to start with Mr. Diggory taking the main stage!" the crowd shouted Cedric's name and applauded loudly. "The goal of this first task is simple: collect the golden egg that contains a clue to go to the next task!"

Tomb silence, everyone were all clinging onto Bagman's words.

"Let's let in the opponent of our first champion, and mind you, there are four of them; one for each!"

Ginny saw Charlie and some other dragon tamers open a fence: a Swedish Short-Snout made its entrance and the crowd held their breath and gasped loudly; someone screamed in fright, starting to protest. Of course, not everyone knew that the champions would have to defeat a giant dragon, and many in the audience had on the same expression that Ginny wore when Ron first told her about the task.

"Don't be frightened, folks! There are experts ready to take over if the situation gets out of hand and ..."

An early cannon shot: they saw Filch raise his hands near the cannon, awkward.

Bagman smiled and announced, "Let the first task of the Triwizard Tournament begin!"

;•-•-•-•-•;

"Our youngest champion was the fastest to reach the egg! Congratulations Mr. Potter!"

It was over: Harry had grabbed the golden egg before ending up roasted by the lousy Hungarian Horntail, who seemed as subdued at her egg. And he had used his Firebolt, he had been in his element. A little like a difficult game of Quidditch and Seeking, as though only with a stronger opposing team, which gave him a rather hard time.

It was finally over!

Ginny climbed over the dragon fence, while Demelza screamed at her to be careful, and ran to her brother Charlie, whom she had not seen since her vacation. The boy was chatting with a young colleague, when he turned and saw his sister and greeted her affectionately.

"I knew he could overcome the dragon, even if ... it could have been a less aggressive one. Did you like that one?" Ginny said with a smile, peering behind the older brother: the Horntail was close to them, hypnotized with a spell. "You will send an owl to mum? She's probably panicking!" she added, and nodded to Cedric, who had just emerged from the infirmary tent. He returned the greeting, and gave her a big smile.

"I had forgotten ..." Charlie grumbled, clapping a hand to his forehead.

"Thank me, brother, now I have to go, see you before you leave!"

And alone, she started towards the castle to go to join the festivities surely held in the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

 _ **Next: Dates, shopping, and a good dose of calming draught**_

 _ **The note is from Helena Heansilton owr favorite editor, dont froget to thank her too :D.**_

 _ **(note: Maybe Ginny reminded Snape of Lily; but really I don't care he's still a prick**_ )

 _(note from Helena again: I know I talk way too much, and the banter is a lot more than normal in A/N, but I know there isn't so many people following this so we're doing this both for the story and for each other, staying in contact and all, so if you're reading this GOD I appreciate your patience with our ramblings)_


	27. Dates, shopping, calming draughts

_**Hello, Helena here, completely terribly irrevocably late. Ermory actually translated a week ago but as most people know school tends to get in the way. So here's a,, what to call it? warning? that updates will become sporadic, though we'll still try to update once a week.**_

 _ **For now, here's a long chapter to appease you, enjoy :)**_

 _ **And we don't own any of this. Plot and characters (and some dialogue in this chapter) go to JK Rowling, story originally written by EmPotter in Italian, we just translate and edit.**_

 ** _The original story can be found on EFPfanfic, called 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'_**

* * *

 **Dates, shopping, and a good dose of calming draught**

"Weasley, Todd," little professor Flitwick squeaked in exasperation, "less chatting there! Thank you!"

Ginny hurriedly turned her face away from William, and tried to focus on whichever boring spell they were working on that lesson. She and the boy were arguing animatedly for the umpteenth time, which often happened since William had decided to act so _strangely_ around her. Flitwick had now interrupted them for the fourth time in a row. The class gave them extremely curious looks.

"Well, now that those two have stopped their tender quarreling of an old married couple," the class burst out laughing and the professor continued under the stupefied gaze of the tenderly quarreling old married couple, "I have to inform you all of one thing. The Yule Ball: an event traditional with the Triwizard tournament and an opportunity us all to socialize with our foreign guests."

Vicky coughed and Ginny chuckled swiftly; Demelza rolled her eyes.

"Now, the dance will be open only to those of the fourth year up ..."

"Why did you tell us, then?" Rose interrupted him, dropping her wand down on the bench and hunching forward curiously.

"Why," continued Flitwick, a note of slight irritation in his shrill voice, "you can be invited by a student older than you and vice versa, then you're able to take part in the dance. Would be a great opportunity for you younger ones!"

"Yes, wonderful opportunity ... surely someone will invite me to a dance only when the cool kids go," muttered Demelza in a low voice. The boys smiled but Ginny, despite laughing along, shared this thought of her friend. Who would ever invite her to the Yule Ball? Maybe, remotely ... Harry Potter? But of course, they would have to hit him with a real powerful Confundus first!

William raised his hand and Flitwick motioned for him to speak.

"Can't you ask a student of our age?" he asked, and Vicky coughed again.

"Only an older one, Mr. Todd. Oh, and, if any of you are to be invited, you'll be wearing dress robes," Flitwick said cheerfully, glancing at the boys. "The dance would convene at eight o'clock on the evening of Christmas, and it will end at midnight, now..."

The bell rang.

"... the lesson is over, off you go," he concluded, while the children were already on their heels.

*.-.*-.-*.-.*-.-*.-.*

Ginny had never seen so many people stay at Hogwarts for Christmas: though she'd never been here, but usually the list of people staying had never been long.

That year, on the contrary, almost all the students in the school, including her, had remained at the castle, obsessing over the upcoming Ball.

"Why did I even decide to stay here? Is it just curiosity? Or maybe it was… hope? Man, who do I think I am ... " Ginny muttered frustratedly, strolling down a corridor full of students carrying all her heavy books.

That was the last lesson of the term; the Yule Ball was inching close and closer: the corridors of Hogwarts were filled with conversations of nothing but that event. Groups of girls would burst out into laughter and furious whispers as boys passed by; everyone excitedly asking their friends who's their date, what they're wearing; what must be millions of cards are sent at the end of lessons, flying around in the corridors, winking at passers-by.

"Really, I've been so stupid that if it's not for being terribly scared of the height, I would have thrown myself off the Astronomy Tower," Ginny continued unperturbed, while a boy nearby kissed a girl and asked her to the Ball. "Did I really think I was going to be asked out by someone? Well ... I was probably just curious, and if you" she snarled bitterly, pointing an accusing finger at Vicky, "give me any more such idiotic ideas I'll make sure to give up all together!"

Her friend burst out laughing, hands pressed to her mouth; Demelza smiled.

"Bet two sickles that all three of us will get invited eventually?" Vicky asked solemnly, while winking at a clumsy Hufflepuff passing close by and causing a strange blush blooming on his cheeks. Ginny turned back to watch the boy's face and bent up with laughter, giving her friend a pat on the back.

No one in their right mind would have asked Ginny to a school Ball, and that's because she had quite the record: the timid girl who had her friends almost killed, the shy girl who had opened the Chamber of Secrets, the wary girl responsible for the school-wide pandemonium during her very first year, the nervous girl who had sent little cards and love letters to her brother's best friend ... which closed the description rather beautifully.

"No one's ever going to ask me," said Ginny and Demelza in unison, then burst out laughing.

"Two sickles against that," insisted Vicky, stubborn at best. She would certainly have asked someone, though certainly not that Ravenclaw Goldstein, for they had just split up, and pride reserves its importance in relationships, and stuff: neither would take the first step to make peace, and they would both end up in someone else's arms before they were going to count down from three and say "I'm sorry".

Unfortunately, Ginny was not an expert on relationships (and stuff) but had that strange certain feeling that the Ball would change something. What she did not know for certain was whether the change would be positive or negative.

"Ah, and guess what, Johanna Roberts, that curly-haired Hufflepuff girl, asked Harry Potter to the ball!"

"EH?" Ginny immediately whipped her head around, " _WHO_ DID WHAT TO _WHOM_?"

"Good heavens ... don't scream, please ..." Demelza muttered, looking around.

"You heard it," Vicky said hurriedly, with a mischievous smile.

"Don't laugh, damn it! You're pissing me off even more, you know?" Ginny snapped, raising her voice even higher and not caring that people were starting to stare at them. However, the need for information was more important at that point, so she added: "What the hell happened then? Harry might just go to the Ball with _that one_ in the end, yes, she's been drooling for years but just because he's famous! You didn't hear about it in the first year, and last year he wasn't in the spotlight and he also couldn't possibly have ever even noticed her, at this it's more likely for him to be in love with Sirius Black! But for her now she wants a champion and what a coincid—"

Vicky refrained from bursting into laughter and interrupted her friend: "You don't know they're going to the Ball together!"

"... yeah?" Ginny asked hopefully, while Demelza shook her head disconsolately.

"Yes, control your raging hormones and try to do something about the ball with him if you care so much," Vicky said wisely with an encouraging smile, quickly skipping down the stairs while her friends almost ran behind her. Demelza with a certain reluctance, also considering with the numerous volumes poised on his arms. "Otherwise, you can just forget it - at least for one night! - and make him jealous with some other guy, which would be a lot more fun and dignified."

"Then why not just ask Harry?" Demelza suggested uncertainly.

"Demelza ..." the blonde said, "you're good at feelings, homework and everything else ... but boys, do you really understand them? They need stimulation, and what's a better chance than this to make a guy want to be with you?"

Demelza stared at her friend as if she was crazy, and though Vicky was probably serious, refraining from laughing out loud and assuming an exasperated and defeated expression: her suggestion wasn't worth a knut.

"Yeah, sure, everything fits but the problem is that Harry's never going to get jealous!" Ginny snorted, banging a fist on a nearby wall.

"WHICH MEANS YOU SHOULD MOVE THAT FRECKLED ASS AND DO SOMETHING!" Ginny was silenced by the neurotic Vicky, her face contracted and almost maniacal. After seeing the expression of her friends, she again took that sweet smile of all time.

Ginny hovered a hand behind her, and whispered:"For the record, I really don't have freckles _there_ too."

*.-.*-.-*.-.*-.-*.-.*

Days rushed past, and the three girls were yet to receive an invitation from any boy. Ginny had talked to the twins and found out that Fred had managed to catch Angelina by shouting the invitation for the dance across the Common Room; George would gladly go with Leotordo, but eventually he changed partners and pounced on Katie Bell; Ron was only hoping not to end up with Eloise Midgen, though at this point he would rather ask McGonagall just to have someone at the Ball and not look like an idiot being alone; and Harry had been refusing all the girls who had asked him. What was there to say about the final part? Harry's situation made Ginny rather cheerful, and she left the twins all happy and excited.

A few days before the Yule Ball, Ginny had left her friends having fun lounging around the school while she was lazing in the empty Common Room: the tons of sweets from the day before had left her feeling not so well at that moment. Confident that she would also vomit her soul out, she decided to stay on that sofa long enough to swallow and digest the potion that Madame Pomfrey had given her.

"Hello ... how come you're all alone?" asked a timid and uncertain voice.

Ginny turned to her left and met Neville Longbottom's curious gaze, staring at her from above.

"Neville, hi! Um ... headache, you know," she lied, deciding not to scare the boy too much with the overeating. It must have escaped her somehow but the potion would have worked.

Neville cracked a crooked smile, took a seat on another armchair next door, took a deep breath and asked: "Who are you going with to the Yule Ball? I-I mean, did you ask someone? Anyone asked you?"

"I'm not going, I'm only in the third year," the girl answered absently, taking the last sip of her disgusting potion, and only then did she realize how stupid she had been: if Neville didn't have a date he would take her and be glued to her, and she absolutely did _not_ want that! She wanted a guy to make Harry jealous, a guy to have fun with, forgetting _him_ and not a boy that's… well, not Neville Longbottom _. Okay ENOUGH with those NEWTs-worthy mental essays! That didn_ ' _t mean he was going to ask you_ , the girl thought.

"Ah, t-that's great! So ... I was wondering if ... that is ... do you want to come to the Ball with m-me?"

That's right, she's getting an O with those dragon-dung-filled mental essays.

"Neville, I ..."

"If you don't want to, you don't have to do anything, that's… I mean, I…" he did not finish the sentence, and he blushed furiously.

Such sincerely? Ginny pitied him a little, and not because he was blushing in front of her or anything ... but because he had always been a someone belittled by everyone and, above all, by himself. He was a very unconfident boy who needed help, and Ginny, not out of courtesy but out of sheer goodness, did not really feel like refusing the invitation. And then ... she would be going to the ball, an unprecedented event!

"I accept," said the girl, with a hesitant smile.

Neville became animated, and leaned toward her: "Really?" he asked, amazed by his own abilities.

"Yeah, we'll have a good time, won't we?"

"S-sure! Oh, how nice ... yes, um ... I'm very happy to be going with you, thank you very much for accepting!"

Neville's starting to make her awkward, as he rubbed his hands together in victory, and she shrugged her shoulders, as if she did not seem just too pleased with the idea of having pseudo-date.

"Now I'm going ... I'm going to buy a formal dress for ... yes, see you!" he said, splitting smile on his face as he got up form the chair. Then he ran away, clumsily climbing through the portrait hole and disappearing from the girl's sight, who sighed and rolled her eyes, not knowing who to blame.

Slowly, she pulled a red pillow from the nearby couch and began to throw it repeatedly against her face, muttering curse after curse against the fabric, in all the languages of the world. Count in Parseltongue and in Ancient Runes. Because she was crazy, crazy, crazy ... first class crazy. She tried to calm down and tell herself that it wasn't the end of the world: she would go to the Ball, and the prospect of not going was really worse than going with Neville.

 _Yes_ , _indeed ... you go with Longbottom! Better the empty Gryffindor common room_ , _no_? asked an evil little voice in her head, and suddenly, a tiny Ginny dressed as a devil appeared in the imagination of the girl, while another tiny self, dressed as a little angel, surfaced with grace and elegance.

"The Common Room couldn't possibly be better!" the girl answered, self-convinced.

 _You made a nice gesture_ , _dear. In the end it is only a dance_ , _and who says you would spend the entire evening with Neville! There are many other good-looking guys who are going_ , _and you can make friends with some of them as you like_ , the angel replied sweetly, a brilliant golden halo shone above her red hair.

 _Nobody will talk to Longbottom_ ' _s date!_

 _You're a disgusting worm! That boy just needs someone who trust him!_

 _And why does she have to be the one to help him_?

"Oh stop it and close that ... HERMIONE!" Ginny shrieked, literally jumping out of her chair, and driving her startled angel and devil spiraling away. The empty potion vial dropped to the floor with a thump and she reluctantly lowered to pick it up.

"Who were you talking to?" Hermione asked, intrigued, taking a seat on the opposite sofa. Although she seemed calm and composed as usual, Ginny could not help but notice that she smiled, twisted her hands in her lap with an excited air. And what's more, there's something truly strange and never happened before: her cheeks were terribly flushed and her hair more upset than usual. Also... no books with her!

"Forget it," Ginny cut short, quickly. "How are you? It seems we haven't seen each other in centuries and... you're all red and ... happy?"

"Oh, Gin ... I'm more than happy!" she immediately exclaimed, as if she couldn't wait to tell someone what happened to her. It almost caused Ginny's stomach to clench painfully, and she silently cursed herself. "And yes, I'm fine! Never been better! Oh, something unprecedented has happened and ... ugh, my cheeks are burning! I hope he didn't notice, I would have looked ridiculous!"

"Hermione ... would you like to explain?" Ginny asked, scratching the back of her head and staring at her friend. At that moment, she noted joyfully that the stomach ache had passed and that now she could even get up from the chair. "Did you ... you go asked to the Yule Ball, didn't you? Look at your face, you look like Crookshanks".

Hermione laughed even though that joke was not funny at all, and she confirmed: "Yes, someone asked me to the Ball. In fact, someone very unexpectedly asked me to the Ball," she corrected, her head back in the clouds.

"RON ASKED YOU TO THE BALL?"

"Don't be silly!"

"I thought ... but how is it possible? You said someone unexpected..."

"Imagine if that idiot of your brother — no offense — ask me to anywhere! If anything, he would ask me to do homework ... for he to copy them!" Hermione replied irritably, rolling her eyes and violently pulling her hair up into a disheveled pony tail.

Ginny told herself that she was right about Ron, and was not offended at all. "Well?" she pressed impatiently.

"What?"

"Who invited you to the ball?"

"I'll tell you, but you do _not_ tell _anyone_!"

"I will be silent as a to—"

"Viktor Krum!" Hermione cried, without letting Ginny finish her sentence and all the nervousness that came when she was starting to talk about Ron vanished as if it was never there; a brilliant toothy smile spread across her face.

"Viktor Krum ... what? The Quidditch Krum? _That_ Viktor Krum? Durmstrang Champion?"

"Yes, how many other Viktors do we know?"

"MY GOODNESS!" Ginny exclaimed, eyes widening, struck and rather upset. "The seeker ... oh most holy gods, I can't believe it! He really asked you ... Merlin in the carriage! Hermione, it's fantastic ... seriously, you're happy, I'm happy for you too!"

"He came to the library every day to try and talk to me ... do you know that?"

"Did he really ask you?" Ginny asked, slightly envious of her friend. Here the picture of the infinite sadness was completed: the friend would go to the dance with the much loved and idolized Viktor Krum, player of the biggest international Quidditch games and master of the Wronski Feint, while Ginny would go to the dance with Neville, player of… real and fake falls and tumbles of all Hogwarts and surroundings.

 _I warned you_ , _little stubborn thing!_ snapped the mini-Ginny, motionless next to her red pitchfork.

The real Ginny snorted with annoyance, then sighed disconsolately.

"Er ... is something wrong?" Hermione asked sweetly, after a while.

"I'm going to the dance with Neville," the girl answered flatly, turning to see her face just in time. The smile was forced, the calm was apparent, and soon there would be encouragement meant for someone hanging between life and death, encouragement that wouldn't really serve much if you were really about to die.

"Well, it's great that you're coming too, you'll have fun, you'll see ... Neville is very ... um ... yes, he's awkward but he's a good person," Hermione tried to _encourage_ her. Poorly. Between the dispute of her two mini-herself and Hermione ... Ginny didn't know which made her feel worse. "I had to refuse Neville because Viktor Krum had asked me moments before, otherwise I would have gladly gone. Try… not to think about Harry, okay? Let's not _think about them_ , one day they'll find out what they missed. Make a fuss, raise a show, I'm sure _he'll_ notice you soon."

A few logs cracked noisily in the fireplace. Probably in disagreement.

"Live your life, be with others ... maybe you'll find if you're yourself ... That's all there is to it; that's the secret, isn't it?"

Sadly enough, Ginny nodded.

"Yeah," she replied, nails digging into her palms desperately. "You're right, I-I think I should… I'll do that."

"You can't wait all your life for it while otherwise doing nothing, you have to know how to wait in the right way."

 _But how right is she about the_ " _right way_ "?

"I will go to that dance, and I ... oh, _you two_ ..." Ginny muttered at her annoying alter egos breaking back into her mind, "I'll have fun like I've never done before! Thank you Hermione… and now…" she suddenly beamed and bent down to kiss her cheek, then bounced happily towards the portrait hole, "I'm getting myself a nice formal dress! You're invited to the show!"

As she ran away, one thought about Hermione insistently lingered: how did she always know everything?

*.-.*-.-*.-.*-.-*.-.*

"I can't believe you're going to the Ball with Longbottom!"

"Will ... stop this. Rather, stop insulting Neville like that!"

"Who's insulting him?"

The Hogsmeade shopping trip had been impossibly beautiful: Ginny and her friends had happily catapulted into the village for their pre-ball shopping. Christopher managed to courageously ask a pretty Hufflepuff girl, successfully (Susan Bones, her name was); Demelza had been invited by a Frenchman who was all skinny bones, but with a keen interest in English literature and Vicky had been asked by a rather muscular Bulgarian. Ritchie and William had not moved their finger for that dance, and they were helping their friends find formal clothes.

"Try this shirt, Chris, goes with the green robes," Ritchie suggested, throwing his friend an elegant white shirt.

"You could have waited ..." Vicky whispered in Ginny's ear, turning round in large sky-blue dress robes that made her look incredibly like Cinderella's blue fairy. "There were a lot of Bulgarians without a date, you know?"

"I'm so sorry if I got too nervous and ate so much and got sick when the twins had told me that Harry was turning down all the girls!" she said in one breath, dropping another possible dress in William's arms.

"Mmh ... well, you can always dance with someone else"

"She can't abandon Neville, he's her date and all!" William replied immediately, catching the gist of conversation, with a certain satisfaction. If the conjectures did not deceive Ginny, the boy was doing everything to convince her to stay with only her clumsy date, who was really not as attractive as the other girls' dates.

"I still can't believe I was invited too, you know?" Demelza muttered, blushing to the tips of her ears. "Um ... excuse me," she added, turning to a shop assistant currently popping a gum, "are there only red shoes? I wouldn't want something that stands out so horribly, do you have anything softer? And I could…"

"Nothing else around here," interrupted the saleswoman, annoyed.

"Demelza ... time out! You _will wear_ red, and the case is closed!" Vicky decided, stopping the young lady and throwing her shiny red heels into the arms of her friend. "And then ... I might be wrong but you both seems to owe me two sickles? I won the bet!"

"What is this barbarism?" Ritchie looked horrified, while the two girls, barely flinching, each slipped two sickles into the pocket of a smug and smiling Vicky.

*.-.*-.-*.-.*-.-*.-.*

Ginny had been really happy with her choice of dress robes and shoes. She had bought a simple dress: a deep blue tulle skirt that came just above her knee, with a slightly darker bodice decorated with little silver stars. Cute and simple, times better than the big pink candy dress of Vicky, or the sinuous and rather seductive red dress of Demelza, who wanted to die of shame when she realized that she would actually be wearing it.

The three girls came down from the girls' dormitory, excitedly chatting, then suddenly Ron fell on his sister, asking for help and shaking her as if he had seen death in the face.

Demelza and Vicky disappeared from the Common Room, horridly glancing at Ginny and her brother, while Ron dragged his sister to a more secluded corner of the room, and started to mumble incomprehensibly. Ginny couldn't understand anything that were incomprehensible. The girl could not understand anything, and immediately interrupted.

"Ron, breathe. Do you mind repeating... whatever the hell just happened?"

"A FIASCO!" he suddenly shrieked, face in despair and vocabulary suddenly expanding. "I did something very, very… stupid!" he added, and his sister grabbed him by the arm, (never mind the vocabulary comment) dragged him away, and pushed him into a nearby chair after ushering away a pair of shy first years. After Ron regained control, she urged him to speak.

"Well?"

"IaskedFleurDelacourtotheball!" he quickly said, his eyes bulging and mad, printed with shock and horror as if he had _actually_ seen death in the face, and Ginny was sure she did _not_ understand what he meant by he "asked Fleur Delacour to the ball."

"Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion?"

"Yes, and I asked her, you know, there were a lot of people, and she looked at me like I was disgusting ... and I really suck!"

He seemed to want to cry all his tears of anguish, but Ginny would not allow it and began to console him, patting him on the back and tried to cheer him with small jokes. No success there, she should know. She had just managed to stop him hyperventilating while some students arriving back from dinner turned to look at them with small smiles on their lips.

"What's up, Ron?"

Ginny and Ron looked up at the same time: they didn't realise that harry had joined them.

"He ... er ... just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," Ginny explained, barely trying to hold back a little smile.

"I don't know what made me do it!" exclaimed Ron breathlessly. He began to torment his hands in his lap, ears again scarlet with shame. "She was standing there talking to Diggory, and it sort of came over me, and I asked her!" he added, moaning, and buried his face in his hands, hiding it from view and continuing to mumble things whose meaning escaped Ginny.

"She's part Veela, you were right," Harry interrupted, sitting down next to him, "I bet you walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it, she's wasting her time though. Diggory is going with Cho Chang." Ron stared and his friend gave him a look, "I asked her to go with me just now, and she told me," he added.

Ginny felt herself suddenly stop smiling. And was that why he had turned down all the girls asking him? To go to the dance with that idiot Chang? Of course, now everything seems perfectly clear now! It was only last year that he was drooling at her, almost losing a Quidditch game for Gryffindor for not wanting to throw her off the broom. Ginny had her suspicions and probably should have thought of it before, instead she had gorged herself with food until she burst. For him. Cabbage, for him! But ... Cho and Cedric as a couple was really not so bad, she adored them together.

 _Boys are all the same_ , _you just gotta say no to everyone!_ the infamous pitchfork self unperturbedly whispered in the girl's ear, horns and red tail shinning dangerously.

"This is mad, we're the only ones left who haven't got anyone!" Ron said, amazed by the news as Ginny returned back to reality, "well, us and Neville. Hey, guess who he asked? Hermione! She told him she's already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville!"

"Don't!" Ginny interrupted, annoyed. That business was really degenerating, and remembering Hermione's words about boys, especially those two, Ginny became even more furious, she didn't even care that Ron had now recovered from his catastrophe with Delacour. "Don't laugh!" she added, as Hermione crossed the portrait hole and joined them, confused.

"Why weren't you two at dinner?"

Ginny stared at her insistently, as if to tell her that she was right about her brother, and said, "Because... oh shut up laughing, you two… because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" and this, to the girl's great satisfaction, closed their mouths.

 _Ten points to Ginny._

"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" Hermione replied sourly, but Ron was staring at her as if he saw her with a new light.

"Hermione, Neville is right: you are a girl!"

"You're as quick as lightening!"

"Well ... you can come with one of us!"

"No, I can not ... because I'm going there with someone else!"

"No you're not!" Ron accused forcefully, and Ginny gasped. If he had not been her brother, sharer of her blood, she would have killed him, right there, at that moment. She would have been fine with killing, or punching the cheeky face square with her fists, even if he had been a cousin.

"You said it only to get rid of Neville!" he continued, convinced of himself.

Viktor Krum had to be more appetizing than Ron ...

"Oh did I? Just because it's taken _you_ took three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!" Hermione snapped, something sinister flashing angrily in her eyes. She said her last words and turned her back on him, stormed up to the girls' dormitory. Probably to throw up.

Still, _ten points to Hermione._

"She's lying," Ron said again, almost sneering.

"She's not," his sister objected.

"Who is it then?"

"I'm not telling you, it's her business!"

"Right, this is getting stupid," Ron said, very disconcerted, just not realizing that he had came too late with Hermione and that Viktor Krum had just won the duel to the girl's heart. "Ginny, you can go with Harry and ..."

 _Five points from Ro_ ... wait, wait, what? Who was she going with? With Harry? But that same Harry? No, that's impossible and she couldn't believe it, one of her greatest most ardent desires could not have came true but… here Gryffindor pride prevailed, it was really impossible that she could made herself happy with a proposal _made by Ron_ as if she's someone crawling at his feet. She wasn't his second choice and wouldn't be treated like that by a little bastardly git! He's treating her as a last resort, as Ron had done with Hermione.

Harry stared at her, and Ginny corrected herself mentally: just a small bit bastard, _charming_ bastard.

"I can't," declared the girl with dignity, though becoming scarlet. She thought of Hermione's last words and found the strength to refuse. "I'm going with… with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought… well… otherwise I won't be able to go," at that moment she became particularly depressed, a thousand things barging her brains and filling it with insults at herself and the bespectacled face of Harry Potter.

The two boys stared at her even more disconcertedly.

"I think I'll go and have dinner..."

Ginny walked out of the Common Room, bowing out in all her fantastic and total despair. Maybe, once she got off, she could ask Madam Pomfrey for a good dose calming draught.

* * *

 ** _Teenage hormones amirite_**

 ** _Review?_**

 ** _~Helena H. (editor)_**

 ** _Ermory is translator and owner of this account._**

 **Next: The Yule Ball (another dangerously long chapter that will take a while to edit)**


	28. The Yule Ball

_**MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU GREAT BUGGERS OF EARTH AND HOGWARTS**_

 _ **HERE'S OUR SEASONS GREETINGS**_

 _ **protocol: we don't own this. The character and plot belong to JK Rowling, story originally written in Italian, can be found of EFPfanfic or something called Sono Ginny Weasley e questa e la mia storia. Ermory translates and Helena edits.**_

* * *

 **The Yule Ball**

The fateful Christmas Day came way too quickly, the three girls, though formerly neutral, were being hammered towards an anxiety as the days had inched towards the Yule Ball, haunting all Hogwarts students. Ginny and Demelza, however, were not particularly enthusiastic about their partners. Really, they couldn't wait to get the dance over with… About Demelza though, Ginny thought she had the urge to kill her, choke her with her own bare hands— Demelza had been asked to the Ball, bought a dress, had a blond-haired-blue-eyed dream of a date… what more in hell did she want? Maybe Ginny could end up borrowing her date— no, exchange with her, and she hoped that Demelza would consider Neville a fair deal.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ୨୧˚˚୨୧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"Susan Bones is really pretty ... nice choice, Casanova," Ginny said with a little smile, stretching her neck to look towards the Hufflepuff table where a plump, blond-haired girl was just sitting down.

"Modestly speaking, I was quite satisfied!" Christopher replied. He waved at the girl, who, after noticing from her table, returned the greeting and turned as red as tomato sauce. "Guys, she's blushing… does that mean she… likes me?"

"Not so fast!" Vicky sent his hopes down the stomach along with her horrible disgusting diet yogurt. "Even if she blushed or smiled like that it doesn't mean she likes you… could be a slight crush or she thinks you're nice… but I doubt it."

"Don't overthink it, okay? We girls are books that you guys can never read!"

"Oh, save yourself," Ritchie muttered in disgust, slashing butter at his toast.

Ginny chuckled amusedly, but suddenly stopped as she caught sight of the very reminder for her remaining annoying stormy mood: Harry was a few feet away and had barely ever even looked at her after what happened the other night under Hermione's annoyed look. Who knows… maybe the boy was really angry or annoyed but those were not Ginny's problems: he really was wrong with her. If he hadn't made it clear that he liked Chang and wanted to spend the whole evening dancing with her and all, Ginny would rather think that he was gay than admit that he was completely ignoring her.

Stop suffering and tell him to fuc …

"So!" Ginny interrupted her little pitchfork-bearing ego, startling and catching the attention of her friends. She had spoken a little too loudly. "I'm sure we will all have fun at the Ball, and I'm not thinking of anything negative," she glanced at the boy in question, "until at least we're done having fun."

"That's exactly the attitude you should have!" the blonde exclaimed, leaning forward to give her a five. The others smiled and William, on the other hand, was opening his mouth to say something absolutely unjust or admonishing when a small figure came up behind him: Colin showed up with a big smile and his usual camera.

"Hello!" he greeted them cheerfully.

A moment of silence: they began to look at each other.

"I thought you had forgotten about us!" Ritchie then exclaimed, glad to see his friend back. But the others were not as enthralled as the boy in seeing Colin, who had not been seen for centuries, for whatever obscure unknown reasons. "Great! Why don't you sit down with ..."

"... us?" Ginny said loudly, immediately putting Ritchie to silence with a glacial look. She went back to staring at who, long ago, was her best friend, and began to tell him so: "You have finally blessed us to your presence, eh? Good, congratulations... but the party's over. "

She got up from the Gryffindor table, under the astonished gaze of Colin and her other friends, and rushed out of the Great Hall, desperate to get out and hoping her friends wouldn't be so quick to follow her all the way to the Common Room. Yes ... because things had to go like this, because nobody was the second choice, the backup plan of anyone, and it might have just been the topic of backup plans that annoyed the girl to this depth.

"Gin, wait for us!" Demelza shouted in a hurry from behind her in the Hall.

"HEY!" Colin's voice was heard close up instead, and Ginny stopped abruptly to see what he had to say. "Oh, you made me run like crazy ... but what was that all about… why did you treat me like that? I thought we were friends!" the boy added, voice dripping with sadness. "You know how things are, you know about... I came to you as soon as I could! My brother had not seen me for centuries, this first year had been a nightmare for him!"

"We are just all terribly tired of being someone else's second choice!" Ginny retorted with disdain, looking at the friend who had been so close to her during her first year of hell, and wished that he still was. Demelza and the others had now joined them, and watched the scene, hypnotized, as the students passed them to go for breakfast, all excited.

"I have to be with him, I can't leave him like that," Colin said again.

"Colin ..." Demelza said softly, her eyes starting to glisten but the boy interrupted her, still watching Ginny.

"You know how things are!" he repeated.

"No, rather, I do not know!" the girl snapped, stepping forward and clenching her fists. "None of us know, because you've never bothered to let us know! Personally, I'm sick of being the backup!"

A lump in her throat made her unable to speak anymore and, not wanting to listen to anything else, she ran away up the spiral staircase.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ୨୧˚˚୨୧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"You're tormenting me, Demelza."

"I am tormenting you because you were not referring to Colin today"

"Dem ... the dance is coming up… so by grace, pleasure and courtesy, stop tormenting her please?" Christopher intervened.

Ginny was totally excited. Completely piped up: leave it to Demelza and Colin to ruin the damn dance, and they'd have completed the picture of harmony. However, the day had passed quickly and the girls were itching to be finally in their elegant dresses, at the beautiful event, despite the circumstances of the scene with Colin: Demelza accused Ginny of not speaking about Colin to Colin (at the very least not only about Colin), and Ginny let her talk ... because it was the truth. The problem was that Harry Potter just affected the girl's life that much, and Colin, having put them in his background, had made her mad.

Second choices, second choices everywhere!

It was quickly the time to get ready, and in the girls' dormitory a real pandemonium broke out: the three friends shed their school robes to put on the ball gowns, forgetting their problems and all the whole while singing nonsensical songs to fits of giggles. The three madwomen (much less in Demelza's case) were joined by two wild Alice and Rose, who had been asked by a couple of the twin's classmates.

"Oh damn it ... Demelza, help me here!" Rose pleaded, holding the ripped fabric of her dress in her hands, and Demelza ran to her (one foot in her red heels while the other was clad in rainbow socks) and drew out her wand immediately. In her haste to be on time, Rose must have torn her new dress, and leaving her in abject despair.

This made Ginny come to think, as she zipped up her simple blue dress, that the Yule Ball had been organized simply to blow up the nerves of the students, who were already schizophrenic on their own without the help of any special events.

"Do not move or I'll miss the spell!"

"Quickeeeerrr!"

There we go. Pandemonium, as I said. Fortunately, the preparations lasted only the most parts of an hour, and the end came in the best way for the girls: the five of them, looking radiant, did nothing but compliment each other as they helped each other with the sparkling necklaces and bracelets. When Ginny left the dormitory for the common room, Neville was not there: as usual, he was perfectly not on time. The girl then decided to start off to the entrance hall while her date finished with preparing in hurry and running late.

"Ohhhh, look how many beautiful gentlemen!" Vicky commented brightly, once they were in the Hall.

"I guess that's nothing to complain about", muttered Demelza, whose cheeks had turned a pale pink.

Ginny looked around curiously and saw that her friend really wasn't wrong: they stood all charming and elegant, waiting for their ladies or making their way through the crowd to look for the girls on their own. Many threw Ginny's curious glances and she blushed slightly, trying to stand up and not seem too clumsy on those heinous heels, which made her feel like (and look like) walking on eggs: she would not last the night, this much was certain.

Then someone had the brilliant idea to step on her foot ...

"Ow!" the girl moaned. "Be more careful, next time ..." she hushed abruptly, because the one who had stomped her foot was Cedric Diggory.

"I'm so sorry!" Cedric turned worriedly, to make sure that she was fine. Then he recognized her and added, very kindly and courteously: "Ginny, right? I remember we went to the Cup together, but I almost didn't recognize you like that ... You do look beautiful, you know?"

Ginny was afraid of becoming the same color as her hair.

"Thanks, not bad yourself," she replied, her voice a little too sharp. He was in fact much more than not bad… Cedric was a real dream. A real dream, let's face it, which he would always be, even if he was in his pajamas and ruffled and full of sleep. Ahem, Ginny had seen him at the Cup exactly like that and the combination turned out in fact to be far from ugly or scary.

Cedric smiled at her and wished her a good evening before leaving, while Vicky hissed incomprehensible things beside her friend. Once she and Demelza had gone away with their foreigner dates, Ginny started looking for Neville in the crowd, first meeting Dean Thomas who smiled and complimented her, and then his brother Ron, arm in arm with Padma Patil but with his head completely elsewhere.

"Neville, finally!" the girl began when she saw him.

His robes were very elegant like everyone else's, but… quite a few things were completely out of tune: Ginny could not understand how the knot of the tie was formed and a small white piece of fabric poked out from his trousers, which Ginny dearly wished was of his shirt and not his pants. On the whole, though (disregarding the not-underpants showing above the black satin trousers), he looked quite fine. But after all, what could one expect from Neville Longbottom if there wasn't anything out of place? This was normal for him, and for the fact that he looked as presentable as he did, Ginny could have thanked him on her knees.

"Excuse me, I'm always late and ... you're beautiful..." Neville stammered, blush blooming in a bang.

No, maybe to thank him on her knees would not have been very decent.

"Thank you!" Ginny replied him politely, putting on big smile. Then she cleared her throat, and encouraged him: "Let's get in? I think the champions are coming soon and we should already be there to welcome them or something like that." She stretched her neck over the heads of the other students to see the champions better, even if no one had miraculously seen them yet.

"Y-yes, yes, of course, let's go ..."

Ginny took herself in Neville's arms and firmly dragged him inside, looking like a big, lazy dog, awkward about what to do. Harry had to be there with his partner, but Ginny had no intention of seeing him and regretting it and letting him know that he's picked up the mind of the silliest girl who has waited for him to come forward.

When they entered the castle's Great Hall, Ginny gasped and almost didn't recognized the place by its beauty: the walls were all covered with glittering silver frost, with hundreds of ivy garlands and mistletoes crisscrossing through the black starry ceiling. And with the icicles that hung everywhere. Heaven, it was really wonderful.

Ideal for dancing, Vicky would have said.

"Come, Neville ... let's not block the entrance."

They moved from the entrance just in time to see the four champions of the Triwizard Tournament enter and make their way across the silver carpet: at the head of the row was Fleur Delacour, looking expectedly splendid and dazzling in her silver dress, accompanied by Roger Davies, the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team; then there were Cedric and Cho; Krum with Hermione, who was as beautiful as the sun and moon and gave her a big smile as she passed by (the Krum fan club was not very well disposed towards the girl); and finally, to close the very short line, Harry Potter with the silly Pavarti Patil.

Ginny almost burst out laughing: Harry looked extremely confused, while Pavarti smiled at everyone and carried the boy so enthusiastically that it made him look like a show dog. The redhead was very pleased to see that the boy looked uncomfortable, not at all attracted to his dance companion.

"Hermione Granger ... with Viktor Krum?"

"Do you know her?"

"Claire, it's the school's nerd!"

"I don't believe it ... it doesn't look like her at all!"

Passing near the Krum fan club, Ginny gave them one of her fiercer glares as she raised an eyebrow, and the girls sneaked away, probably to gossip or insult Hermione from a slightly more intimate location. Ginny pulled Neville again, and led him to a nearby table for dinner.

"Viktor Krum has invited Hermione, then?" Neville asked, taking a seat on the bench.

"Yes," Ginny replied, taking a turkey and a baked potato. "It's great, isn't it? Krum's fan club certainly don't think the same way, but not even the Slytherins have found anything bad to say to her. Have you seen their faces?"

Neville shook his head, but the girl had already seen enough: Draco Malfoy seemed struck dumb (in fact he had opened and closed his mouth without making any sound) and Pansy Parkinson... well, like almost all the girls there, she seemed really resentful, if a little more pug-shaped.

"I'm glad she rejected me," Neville said suddenly, while Ginny drank some pumpkin juice. "Hermione, I mean, because at the end we came to this dance together, so it made me… well… happy."

"Yes, as friends, of course," she said, wanted to make it clear, and scrutinized him over her cup.

Neville looked up at her, and confirmed, "Y-yes, as friends ... of course ... obviously..." he stammered.

Okay, it was better to change the subject or it was ending up really badly. She stared back around the Great Hall, decorated so nicely for Christmas, and gave the students a curious look, identifying her two friends who were dining with their respective strangers, then returned to look at Neville again, trying to talk.

"Who would you have wanted to invite if you had not asked me?" she asked stupidly.

"Actually... I never thought about it ... I never had the courage to go to somebody and ask her anywhere, do you know?"

"But you did it with me!" the girl exclaimed, with a gentle smile.

"Yes, because I already knew you for a few years, it was simpler, wasn't it?" he laughed nervously.

"That's not wrong," she mumbled, then trying to put him at ease. Then the conversation wandered off and they found themselves talking about the various traditional Wizard's balls and folk dances, but the Weird Sisters put an end to their conversation, because they had positioned themselves on the stage and began to play a slow song, which sounded like a waltz.

"The champions are meant to open the dance…" Neville said.

In fact, the four champions had already began dancing with their partners and many students soon joined them on the floor, even Dumbledore and McGonagall started dancing together! Curious and amused, Ginny craned her neck to see where Harry was and shoved Neville.

"Come Dance!" she hissed briskly, grabbing him by a sleeve and dragging him to the center of the hall.

"S-sure ..."

He stumbled on his own feet but followed her immediately (not that he had a choice, though), shyly putting an arm around her waist while Ginny nervously clutched one of her hand with the boy's and her other on his shoulder. They started to twirl (it was, of course and without any doubt, Ginny to lead) and it was quite relaxing to be there in a slow dance.

I look like a stalker ... thought the girl, as she stealthily approached Pavarti and Harry on purpose— Harry who was craning his neck in much the same way as Ginny herself… well, of course he was stalking Cedric and Cho dancing nearby! Ginny found herself snorting loudly and made a sharp move, resulting in a perfect crushing of her toes by Neville.

"I'm sorry!" he said, seeing her wince.

"It's nothing ..." she lied, almost weeping but trying, despite everything, to still keep an eye on Harry without making more movements like the one she had just done and leading Neville to go crazy for her frequent change of positions. She noticed that the boy wasn't feeling very comfortable at all, much to the ease of her mind, so she decided to send Harry to hell to completely address her partner.

I just have to have fun, this is my evening!

"I would love to be able to dance like him ..." Neville mumbled ruefully, looking towards Viktor Krum, who was twirling Hermione with true skill and grace and he held her tightly between his mighty seeker's arms.

"I imagine he has been invited to many dances, Krum ... hasn't he? Being an internationally renowned Quidditch player and all?" Ginny said absentmindedly, still watching the boy who was revolving perfectly around a stupefied Hermione "And obviously he should know how to dance like that. But don't worry, we're fine too: we're just a couple of idiots together, don't have to be dancing masters," she added to cheer him up, while the music was moving.

"I'm glad you didn't scream when I stepped on your feet… I once danced with my grandmother…"

"No way?"

"Yup!" he exclaimed, face completely lighting up for having managed to make a girl laugh, probably for the first time in his life. "I danced with my grandmother at a family party, and I did nothing but pound her feet. Poor thing, I must have hurt her because she kept barking for more than five minutes while sounds kept ringing in my ears. Well, sound of the music combined with the horrible one of your grandmother."

Ginny sincerely burst out laughing, and said, "Something like that happened to me when I was at Aunt Muriel's house," she thought in horror of her horrible great-grand-aunt, and told a little story of what had happened, while the music changed bit by bit and became more and more like a disco.

Bottom line, it was not bad being with Neville and they both enjoyed spending the time with each other, making a thousand proposals for how to rid of aunts and annoying grandmothers who wanted to dance with their grandchildren and telling other funny family stories: it seemed that Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom had really become friends, and the girl found herself thinking that the ball had brought at least something good.

But finally, to ruin all the atmosphere, Ginny sprained her ankle.

"Damn it! I knew that with these damn heels ..."

"Let's sit down," Neville immediately breathed, dragging his lady to a nearby couch.

Ginny limped slowly and dropped heavily down on the couch, wasting no time in pulling off her heels and throwing them away, not without noting the red chafe marks on her feet. She cursed under her breath, and rubbed her feet with one hand with an expression of never wanting to get up again.

"How about I go get a drink?" Neville suggested hesitantly.

"I say it would be perfect and I would gladly accompany you if I had not lost the use of my limbs," Ginny chuckled and Neville walked away from her with a smile, trotting to the drinks table on the other side of the room.

Ginny followed him with her sight, trying to catch what he's doing, but…

"It's an interesting party, isn't it?"

A dreamy voice caught Ginny's attention away from Neville, and she turned slowly to her right, face to face with one of her Ravenclaw classmates from Care of Magical Creatures: Luna Lovegood, she was called ... if Ginny's wasn't wrong.

"Yeah, interesting," the girl answered flatly.

"You are Ginny Weasley from Gryffindor, we have classes together, I am Luna Lovegood, I do not know if..."

"I remember," Ginny interrupted abruptly, thinking of the weird and silent girl with radishes on her ears and the butterbeer caps hanging around her neck, which gave her a completely out-of-touch and mystic air. Luna Lovegood was the kind of person who lived in the clouds, and she never listened during Hagrid's classes, often making the giant rather uncomfortable.

"You were invited," observed the girl, with long blond hair.

"Not you?" Ginny asked, already imagining the answer even from how the girl was dressed.

"No," Luna answered quietly and predictable, still wearing her morning clothes: a purple sweater and pink pants clashing with her golden ballet shoes, "but I wouldn't have liked to be here to dance, I don't quite love those dances..."

Ginny did not know what to say to her: Luna made her uncomfortable, watching her carefully with those bright, protruding, curious eyes.

"And so… why are you here?" then asked the redhead.

"I just wanted to have a look around." Luna said matter-of-factly, picking up a cocktail and opening her lips on the blue straw. Ginny noticed a pair of pink goggles on her head, and sincerely prayed to the sky and Merlin that it was worn just for the occasion and not as daily attire.

Again, the girl remained silent and found nothing to say.

"You were very famous in the first year, for the Chamber of Secrets incident ... you must remember?" Just to say those words, Ginny flushed and her heart beat a thousand miles per hour: was it really appropriate to remind her of that unfortunate accident right now? She really had a lot of courage, since no one had ever talked to Ginny about that thorny subject, but Luna did not seem to accuse her. "Was it a very obscure object, the diary? Did it belong to a dark wizard?" she added, with extreme curiosity.

"Yup"

"Powerful, I guess ... so powerful as to make you do bad things, but it was not your fault, certainly not." Luna shook her head, then got up and wished her a good evening as she skipped away to the castle courtyard, all alone and without a friend. Ginny would have liked to accompany her or even to talk to her again because, apart from the fact of her friendless state paining her a little, talking to her, besides making her uncomfortable, was calming, soothing. Quite contradictory, yes, but interesting.

Where did Neville go? Ginny found herself thinking, remembering that her partner had already been away for five minutes.

"Hey."

"Finally you decided to bring me the will t-"

Ginny stopped herself, eyes wide, because when she turned to his right she saw that the boy who had spoken to her was not at all Neville: tall, dark long hair and eyes of ice, he looked like a prince ... and anything but Neville. But was he smiling at her? Yes, and the girl returned the smile, then removing her legs from the sofa to make room for him, remembering only then that she had been rude to Luna.

"I'm Michael Corner of Ravenclaw," the boy continued, with a smile on his lips.

"Ginny Weasley," the girl spoke up, holding out her hand while he sat beside her on the leather couch.

"Gryffindor?" he asked, squeezing her hand.

"Gryffindor," confirmed Ginny, and her free hand went up to adjust the unkempt hair.

Michael seemed to be looking at her with great interest, then said, "I'm a friend of Victoria Probisher... her ex is my best friend," and smiled, while Ginny remembered the friend's words in horror at the beginning of the year.

"Oh, um ... really?" she stammered.

"Really, you know ... Victoria is very nice."

Ginny nodded, and they fell silent: Vicky was damn right, and she would have skinned Ginny alive if she didn't tell her that now she suddenly believed what she said, because she had met the mysterious boy she talked about so much. It's then a good reason to be quiet and see how this conversation ended with Michael Corner, and if it was going to end up in a certain way she would have to tell her friends everything. And Vicky would really rip her apart ... but none about that now.

"I saw you talking to Luna Loony Loveg-"

"What did you call her?" Ginny interrupted him immediately, stifling a little laugh. "Loony Lovegood?"

"Don't you see how strange she is? All us Ravenclaws call her that, and we just got used to it."

"But Loon-"

"Excuse me, I was chatting with a friend of mine, here's the Butterbeer!" Neville announced suddenly, shoving her a tankard of Butterbeer and putting an end to the conversation between her lady and a stealthy knight thief of the ladies, Michael Corner.

"Thank you, I was starting to think you were completely missing ..."

"MICHAEL!" An angry voice overtook the music, and the three turned around: the someone barging towards in annoyance was surely Hannah Abbott, with whom Ginny had exchanged but a few words from time to time. She was a shy and pretty Hufflepuff, with short blond hair always tied in two ruffled braids and seemed to get along very well with Neville.

"Michael! Well, hello guys, how are you?" she then asked kindly to the others.

They mumbled that they were fine, Hannah grinned in reply and then narrowed her blue eyes into two slits.

"So, are you asking me to dance or not? We were only there for one song, and we stayed and chatted around the whole time ..."

She made a face so tender and sweet that Ginny was amazed that Michael Corner remained impassive.

"I'd ask you," the boy said, taking Ginny's hand gently and pulling for a moment.

"N-I don't think..."

"Come on, just one dance!"

"Okay so... we exchange partners?" Hannah timidly proposed, clumsily taking Neville's hand and making the boy go all red like a pepper. "Are you going, then? Ginny ... Neville?" she added hesitantly to the pair.

Neville seemed determined not to speak and merely stammered something absolutely incomprehensible. Ginny and Michael nodded, one dazed and slightly uncertain and the other resolute with deep energy, so Hannah dragged Neville away while the Weird Sisters struck a passionate tango. Ginny followed her new knight to the dance floor, glancing at Demelza and the Frenchman who were dancing right there beside them. She arched her eyebrows when she found herself a few feet away from Demelza, who giggled uncontrollably: how much has she had to drink?

Then Michael grasped her firmly, making her forget everything.

"Was she your date? Hannah, I mean ..." Ginny muttered as Michael Corner twirled her in his arms. Ginny's thoughts were filled with very nice things, including various shouted compliments about Michael.

"Yes, we danced once but it does not excite me ... especially in the tango," he snorted.

"Do I excite you, then?" Ginny asked in astonishment, assuming a superior air.

"Above all in the tango," he replied in a whisper, gazing into her eyes like he would never pull his sight away. Ginny's cheeks almost literally burst into flames: you could probably put a pan over them and fried eggs and cooked pancakes. Oh why did she have to blush right now? Oh cabbage, and the tango then... why should everything happen to her?

Not knowing who to blame, if not the world, she tried to change the subject: "You dance very well ... you know?"

Muggle churches.

"I know, I really like dancing, I'll give you dance lessons, would you like to?" the boy laughed and Ginny found his laugh so incredibly sensual and crystal-clear that it took a couple of seconds to give him a real, uncertain answer. Yes, uncertain ... because Michael Corner was the first boy who both deeply interested Ginny and was not Harry Potter.

I'm crazy! She thought angrily, before replying.

"Yes, the lessons ... no, that is ... I meant ... I can dance!" she protested, with her brain clearly overloaded and working in timeout.

He just giggled, and made her a perfect problem-case as the music ended: their faces were so close that even her freckles seemed to be on fire, embarrassed by that proximity... she could not explain it, neither has she ever experienced anything like this with anyone.

"Are we going for a walk outside?" Michael asked, taking her hand.

Ginny did not have to think about it, and said, "Why not!" She didn't seem to remember that she was still barefoot, her heels lying somewhere around the couch, long forgotten.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ୨୧˚˚୨୧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"... and then, no longer knowing what the hell to do, I asked her to the dance," concluded Michael Corner, who had started talking about him and him and only him all the way, stopping from time to time to watch Ginny, or to brush her cheek or her hair in a very ... in a way that sent her hormones to dance the conga, there.

"But really?"

"Yes, but I really hoped to find another nice girl to dance with ..."

"What deceit hides under that angel's face," Ginny replied, glancing at him and hoping he would not understand the state of her hormones. They weren't dancing the conga at that moment, but reproducing a tango piece that created… quite a violent congestion that would stop the passages in anyone's brain.

"Come on," Michael snorted amusedly, stopping to look at her again.

Ginny noticed Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies behind a rosebush nearby, making very strange noises, so she hastened to say, "Um ... what time is it? I should be in my dorm, I got to go with the others..."

"Oh, but you lose your shoe at midnight like Cinderella?"

"And who is this Cinderella now?"

"A fairy tale, told by an old Muggle aunt."

"Really?"

"What did you expect?"

"Boh ... it sounds like an illness ..."

He chuckled. "Anyway, it's almost midnight, we really should better go," he said finally, and Ginny followed him with relief, and pleased to finally have convinced the boy to vanish from where Fleur and Roger seemed engaged in serious business.

They walked up the grounds and climbed the stairs to the Entrance Hall. Ginny knew that shortly the two of them would have to part ways, and this left her feeling split: she still wanted to be with Michael but did not want to times and again feel embarrassed. Again, contradictory feelings made their way to her.

"So," Ginny said, coughing lightly, when they found themselves having to go different ways.

"Will we see each other around, sweetheart?" Michael asked, smiling at her.

"Y-yes, of course!"

"All right ... goodnight" and he bent down to touch his lips lightly on her cheek in an innocent kiss.

Ginny watched him walk away elegantly, then realized that she was standing frozen in the corridor and turned, finding himself face to face with the weird Luna Lovegood, who seemed to have came back from her tour of the castle grounds.

"You seem to like it," she noted.

"Oh, no, we hardly know each other, and then again I..."

"... like Harry Potter?"

That was not what I meant! Ginny barked mentally. But how on earth did Luna Lunatica Lovegood know she liked Harry Potter? But then ... hell, she had never met anyone like Luna: she always said exactly what she thought with such tranquility, and she always said everything that was going through her mind at that moment. Like that.

"N-no, I ... that is ... we are friends ... no, not so much ..." Ginny stammered, suppressing the urge to put her hands in her hair.

"I understand," Luna said softly. "And anyway I didn't think he would be so blind, Harry Potter," she added, putting on her strange pink and blue goggles, "His head is probably full of Wrackspruts and ... hey, you have too many of them as well!"

Not knowing what Wrackspruts were, Ginny decided to keep quiet and get away from there.

"Well, um ... I hope they go away," she mumbled stupidly, looking at Luna and wondering curiously whether she would see 'them' through those oddly colored glasses. "And wherever the Wrackspruts decide to go ... I'm leaving. Bye Bye! "

And she turned around, waving to Luna and running towards the Gryffindor Tower.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ୨୧˚˚୨୧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

It was strange to find the Common Room so deserted at half past midnight, but it would be stranger to see everyone already in bed for the one night McGonagall's rules didn't apply. The professors really had to give them that one night, for the students never had chances in centuries to enjoy themselves so much, this much was true even for the professors. Ginny had not forgotten how McGonagall's face lit up during the dance with Dumbledore, even that of Filch with the stinking cat. The bad thing was that the girl had not met any of her friends, including Hermione, throughout the evening, and she couldn't wait to tell them about the events that marked her night- certainly with a lot of compliments to Neville Longbottom.

Make your girl fall, At the Yule Ball.

Ginny burst out laughing, noticing the large banner that was no doubt the work of Fred and George, hanging over the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room, complete with red balloons. Then a noise startled her completely, and Demelza entered the portrait hole, humming quietly.

"Lalala shalalala ... GINNY!" she shrieked as soon as she realized she was being watched. To the mild disgust and for the information of the observer, I would add: How was Demelza Robins behaving so inappropriately and soberly? She was drunk-drunk.

"SSHHHH!" Ginny hissed, covering her mouth and trying to hold back a laugh. "You'll wake people up, and I don't want people coming down here to complain and make a bigger mess because I very much want to sleep myself, and besides, don't you think you… drank a bit too much tonight?"

"I drank?" Demelza repeated, trying to feign indifference, but between her lips Ginny saw the shadow of a small smile, that was from joy or annoyance she did not know ... maybe both. "But what the hell are you talking about? I did not drink, yes, but only water or otherwise I'd die dehydrated, and anyway I have a couple of things to tell you, just so you know that my dance was a fiasco ... so, see you!"

Ginny chuckled: a fiasco? But you were clearly having a good time! ... or was it just alcohol?

"I have to tell you something too," she said, moving towards the stairs.

"Interesting, but let's do it tomorrow," Demelza muttered, rubbing her eyes and, making yet another yawn and then checking the state of her breath (which she knew certainly smelt of alcohol), trotted up the stairs of the girls' dormitory, almost tripping.

One thing was certain: Demelza Robins had drunk that night, and had way, way too much at that.

* * *

 _ **1\. Ginny's way too chill with her best friend having this much to drink.**_

 _ **2\. When Malfoy was stunned to speechlessness I secretly believe it's because he's staring at Harry rather than Hermione *runs away before any of you kill me see y'all 2019***_

 _ **~Helena Heansilton**_

 _ **Ermory's the translator and owner of this account and the sweetest human being, I'm the editor and the shameless, despicable drarry shipper, so you guys can message her if you want to fight me about drarry ta**_


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